iHeartRadio Announces New Slate of Original Podcasts Spotlighting Curious Tales, Historical Oddities, and Stranger-Than-Fiction Stories Often Left Out of History Books

Trailer for New Show “Operation Midnight Climax,” The True Story About A 1950’s CIA-run Brothel, Now Available

LISTEN TO “OPERATION MIDNIGHT CLIMAX” TRAILER HERE

NEW YORK -- March 17, 2021 --- iHeartRadio, the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to Podtrac, today announced a slate of new iHeartRadio Original Podcasts. Launching one new show per month this year, the podcasts will shine a light on the curious tales, historical oddities and stranger-than-fiction true stories that are often left out of history books. iHeartMedia has continued to invest heavily in podcasting, from acquiring HowStuffWorks in 2018 to producing an ongoing slate more than 750 iHeartRadio Original shows like “The Ron Burgundy Podcast,” “Fake Doctors, Real Friends,” “You and Me Both with Hillary Clinton,” among others. These shows and more are distributed by the iHeartPodcast Network and are available on iHeartRadio and all major podcast platforms.

“We are excited to share our newest slate of iHeartRadio Original Podcasts focused on the curious true stories left out of history books,” said Jason English, Lead Executive Producer of iHeartRadio Original Podcasts. “This spring you can spend time with the Black cowboys who found freedom on the high plains after the Civil War; get a first-person account of the most insane government project in American history; and meet desperate World War I veterans who camped outside the White House for months during the Great Depression.

The first fascinating historical podcast in the slate, “Black Cowboys,” available now, tells the story of what freedom looked like for Black Americans after the Civil War. The podcast shares a more honest version of the settling of the Wild West and shines a light on the one-in-four cowboys who were Black. Upcoming podcasts include “OperationMidnight Climax,” which details the stranger-than-fiction events that took place at a CIA-run brothel in the 1950s; “The White House Coup,” which chronicles a club of powerful Wall Street millionaires in a plot to overthrow President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR); and other little-known odd histories of historical figures and events.

New and upcoming iHeartRadio Podcast Originals include:

• “Black Cowboys,” Available Now

Host Zaron Burnett’s father didn’t want slavery to be his son’s dominant image of Black people in American history. So every night, he filled Zaron’s dreams with these incredible stories of Black cowboys. Despite what Hollywood traditionally has shown, one in four cowboys in the American West were Black and their stories tell a bigger, braver, more honest history of America. “Black Cowboys” is written and hosted by Zaron Burnett, with special guest appearances by his father. Listen now.

• “Operation Midnight Climax,” Launching March 17

Host Noel Brown details the insane true story of a secret Cold War project as it spins out of control. George Hunter White operated a CIA brothel in the 1950s where, as part of the mission, sex workers were hired to lure patrons to a safe house to be dosed with LSD and observed from behind a two-way mirror. White’s experiments didn’t end there—enemies of the state, strangers on the street and even his own friends became unwitting targets—because the fate of the nation depended on it. “Operation Midnight Climax” is written by Jake Rossen, whose most recent book, "Action Park: The Untold Story of America’s Most Dangerous Amusement Park” is being developed for a TV series.

• “The White House Coup,” Launching this April

Ben Bowlin will host this limited series podcast centered around one of the great untold stories in American history. In 1934, a decorated Marine Corps Major General named Smedley Butler came to Congress with explosive allegations: a powerful cabal of Wall Street millionaires was plotting to overthrow FDR and wanted Butler to lead a half-a-million-strong army of veterans in the coup. After the fact, the mainstream media started calling the whole thing a hoax—but is it possible the plot got a lot closer than the public realized? “The White House Coup” is written by investigative journalist Alex French, whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, GQ, New York Magazine and “This American Life.”

“As the year goes on, we’ll bring you stories from Mississippi in the ‘70s, Pyongyang in the ‘90s and London at a time when the name Isaac Newton could strike fear into the hearts of even the most hardened criminals,” said English. “We’ve spent months researching, reporting and falling in love with these stories, and we can’t wait to share them with the world.”