Fiasco

Here's episode 3 of Leon's new series, Death of an Artist.

There's still 3 more episodes to go. Find the rest of Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts and binge the full season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

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Here's episode 2 of Leon's new series, Death of an Artist, a story about the joint suicide of a beloved children’s book author and her photographer husband that left behind an uneasy fellowship of friends and family caught between grief, confusion, anger, and envy. 

Michael and Petra Mathers left their house and the logistics of their afterlife to their friend Patty—unbeknownst to Patty’s sister Virginia, who considered herself one of Michael and Petra’s best friends. Patty and Virginia have different perspectives on what Michael and Petra did, but they agree on what it was like to be around them as a couple: awestruck and a bit excluded, something even Alice and Leon pick up on while looking at their dozens of photo albums. 

Find Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

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Leon here bringing you a preview of a new series of mine, Death of an Artist. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing a few episodes with you right here on the Fiasco feed.

In February 2024, celebrated children’s book author and illustrator Petra Mathers and her husband, photographer Michael Mathers, mailed letters to dozens of friends and family members to let them know they had died by suicide. Petra and Michael were by all accounts healthy, happy, and deeply in love. As much a love story as one about death, it begs the question: what did that decision do to the people left to mourn them? My wife, journalist Alice Gregory, and I set out to interview everyone who got one of Petra and Michael’s letters—as one married couple trying to understand another. Through intimate conversations with Petra and Michael’s friends and family about their own relationships to aging, grief, death, and the friends they thought they knew, Death of an Artist weaves together a portrait of a community grappling with the Mathers’ deaths and the final words they left behind.

Here's episode 1, where we visit Oregon to begin putting together the pieces of Petra and Michael’s shared life: the start of their love story, and the end.

Search for Death of an Artist wherever you get podcasts. And get early, ad-free access to the entire season now by subscribing to Pushkin+ on the Apple Podcasts show page or at pushkin.fm/plus.

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In this provocative investigation into OnlyFans— the adult platform where subscribers around the world spent more than $7 billion in 2024— journalist Leon Neyfakh teams up with comedian and OnlyFans creator Gracie Canaan for a one-of-a-kind exploration into the current state of human connection.

Captivating and tender, OnlyFantasy is about the cost of loneliness, the seductive power of desire, and how the rules of human intimacy are being rewritten online. Is what’s happening on OnlyFans real? Or is it only a fantasy?

Find OnlyFantasy wherever you get your podcasts, or binge all episodes ad-free on Audible. 

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The Tea Party takes over the search for the truth about Benghazi, while the FBI pursues a Libyan militia leader suspected of planning the attack.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

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As the political world looks toward the 2016 Presidential election, Benghazi becomes a Clinton scandal.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Benghazi, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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How the attack in Benghazi collided with an American election, and how the seeds of a scandal were planted.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Benghazi, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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An anti-Islamic video sparks protests in the Middle East, and the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi comes under attack.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Benghazi, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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Libya is swept up in a wave of revolution, and an American diplomat makes his mark on Benghazi.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Benghazi, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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How a prison massacre carried out under Libya’s long-time dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, set the stage for the Benghazi attack.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Benghazi, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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Fiasco: Benghazi unpacks the 2012 attack in Libya that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Chris Stevens—and the ensuing political storm, which raised questions about America’s role in the world, established a playbook to weaponize attention in the social media age, and ultimately changed the course of U.S. history.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this season visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

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How Hollywood tried to capitalize on Iran-Contra -- and why the story didn’t take.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

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How the Iran-Contra hearings made Oliver North an icon, and got Ronald Reagan off the hook.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

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How the Reagan administration tried to prevent the Iran scandal from becoming a second Watergate.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

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A bonus interview with journalists Martha Honey and Tony Avirgan. Honey and Avirgan tell Leon about their time reporting on the Contra war from the southern front in Costa Rica.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this season visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Iran Contra, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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How Oliver North decided to do a little multitasking -- and ended up on a plane to Tehran.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Iran Contra, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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How the United States got involved in a not-so-secret secret war in Nicaragua.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Iran Contra, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

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How the Reagan administration landed in a hostage crisis…and extended a hand to one of America’s sworn enemies.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Iran Contra, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
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See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How a crew of amateur spies from Long Island helped the Reagan administration set the stage for Iran-Contra.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this episode visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Iran Contra, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the day-to-day reality of our country’s most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present. Fiasco: Iran-Contra tells the story of a secret war, a secret deal, and a foreign policy scandal that threatened to destroy Ronald Reagan’s presidency — until it didn’t.

For a list of books, documentaries and resources we used to research this season visit: bit.ly/fiascopolitics

Subscribe to Pushkin+ to hear the entire season of Fiasco: Iran Contra, ad-free, right now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Host Leon Neyfakh transports listeners into the day-to-day reality of our country’s most pivotal historical events, bringing to life the forgotten twists and turns of the past while shedding light on the present.  Fiasco: Iran-Contra exposes a secret war, a secret deal, and a scandal that threatened to destroy Ronald Reagan’s presidency—until it didn’t.

Fiasco: Iran-Contra is available wherever you get your podcasts. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear the entire season, ad-free, now. Find Pushkin+ on the Fiasco show page in Apple Podcasts or at Pushkin.fm.

Subscribe on Apple: apple.co/pushkin
Subscribe on Pushkin: pushkin.fm/plus

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The late Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens talks about his memories of Bush v. Gore, and why the ruling’s legacy, years after the fact, looks even worse than he thought it would.

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Attorneys David Boies and Ted Olsen, who represented the Gore and Bush sides, respectively, talk about the unique challenges that came with representing their clients before the Supreme Court.

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An interview with Ralph Nader on his role as a “spoiler” in the 2000 election, and historian Mary Frances Berry, who led the 2001 commission looking into the impact that ballot box irregularities involving Black voters may have had on the outcome in Florida.

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Conversations with Florida’s former Secretary of State Katherine Harris, the Bush supporter who presided over the 2000 recount, and self-described Republican operative and “Bush liege” who embedded in Harris’s office during the recount and helped her bring the election “in for a landing.”

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An interview with Brian Noyes, who worked on the Bush 2000 presidential campaign, and what it was like to feel like an election is being stolen. Noyes oversaw an oral history project with recount alums from the Bush campaign.

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In the season finale: How the 2000 presidential election was distilled and decided in a case called Bush v. Gore.

For a full list of sources, check out the Fiasco website.

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