PRETEND

If you haven't listened to The Prophet series, start here:http://pretendradio.org/the-prophet-word-of-faith-fellowship-revisited/When I first started this podcast, I reported on a secretive church located in the foothills in western North Carolina called the Word of Faith Fellowship.The church is accused of being a cult and separating families—forcing them to break ties with non-believers.One teenager named Matthew Fenner pressed charges against five church ministers because he said they beat the gay demons out of him.And that's just the beginning. Several former members reported being forced into isolation in what is known as the lower building. Some male congregants say they lived in this makeshift storage unit for over a year. But perhaps they're best remembered for their signature style of prayer. It's known as blasting. As you can hear in this secret audio recording, blasting is a form of deliverance meant to cast out the devil.It has been said that crying babies were often held down and yelled at until the devil released its grip on the child. I've experienced blasting first hand. In 2018, I was personally invited by the church's leader,Jane Whaley, to spend the day at the Word of Faith Fellowship. While interviewing her in her office, Jane Whaley looked me straight in the eyes, opened her mouth, and began shouting. It was terrifying. To this day, I still get chills.It's been 2 years since I finished my 11-part series on the Word of Faith. Since then, I've been flooded with emails asking me to give them an update. They want to know, have there been any new allegations of abuse?Have any of the church leaders faced any criminal charges? Is Jane Whaley still running the church? Today, I plan to answer some of these questions.______Story idea?If you have a story to share, email Javier at javier@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this, visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes, go to pretendradio.org/donateToday's episode was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Logan CastrodaleReference:Covid-19 Timelines:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_States_(2020)https://ourworldindata.org/coronavirusThreats against Word of Faith church over coronavirus rumor https://www.charlotteobserver.com/article242307531.htmlWord of Faith church in NC received a PPP loan amid COVID https://www.charlotteobserver.com/living/religion/article244084852.htmlLotz International LLC v. Burnette: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17404523/lotz-international-llc-v-burnette/Case against Facebook commenters moves to state court:https://www.shelbystar.com/story/special/2020/09/23/case-against-facebook-commenters-moves-to-state-court/43180133/Former Word of Faith member charged with breaking into minister's home: https://wlos.com/news/local/former-world-of-faith-member-charged-with-breaking-into-ministers-homeWord of Faith member reaches plea deal in fraud scam:https://wlos.com/news/local/word-of-faith-member-reaches-plea-deal-in-fraud-scamTrump March:https://youtu.be/yxUksEHZGag?t=350Trump Rally:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7VJtRZBy-M Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tori Telfer, author of Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion joins us to talk about female con artists. Today, we're focusing on one of the women in her book—Bonny Lee Bakley, the wife of Hollywood actor Robert Blake.______Story idea?If you have a story to share, email Javier at javier@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this, visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes, go to pretendradio.org/donateToday's episode was written by Javier Leiva Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's episode, we're going to take another look at the opioid crisis, but this time from a pharmacist's perspective. But this is not just any pharmacist. Dan Schneider is a vigilante who helped bring down his son's killer, a pill mill, and one of Earth's largest pharmaceutical companies.Watch the Pharmacist on Netflix:https://www.netflix.com/title/81002576______Today's episode was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Logan Castrodale.______Story idea?If you have a story to share, email Javier at javier@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this, visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes, go to pretendradio.org/donateToday's episode was written by Javier Leiva and edited by Logan Castrodale Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A doctor caught trading prescriptions for cash leaves a trail of bodies behind. A respected anesthesiologist ran a pain-management clinic on the weekends out of a basement in Flushing Queens, New York.Each Saturday, Dr. Stan Li saw more than seventy patients a day, writing prescriptions for Oxycontin, Xanax, and other opioids.Today's episode features Charlotte Bismuth, author of Bad Medicine. LinksHere's a link to the Birth of a Con Man series.Also, subscribe to the new PRETEND YouTube channel for a chance to win a t-shirt.——-Story idea?If you have a story to share, email Javier at info [at] pretendradio [dot] org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Johnny Depp played Donnie Brasco in the Academy Award-nominated film. But the real-life story of Donnie Brasco is even more fascinating. Joe Pistone, an FBI agent, went deep undercover as Brasco and spent six years inside the Bonanno and Columbo crime families.The movie, if you remember, starts with Joe Pistone immediately infiltrating with the mob. In today's episode, we will talk about everything that happened before the movie even begins.What was Donnie Brasco's backstory? Where did he come from, and how did he earn money? The FBI needed to figure out every single detail about this fictional character before Joe Pistone ever made the first contact with the mafia. They decided that Donnie Brasco was going to be a jewel thief. That required Pistone to learn how gemology, how to break into safes, and how to disable alarms.In this episode, you will hear from Joe Pistone himself. You'll even get to listen to a real wiretap recording between Donnie Brasco and his associate Lefty Ruggiero.If you want more, check out the new podcast "Deep Cover-The Real Donnie Brasco," Joe Pistone shares the true stories of his time with the mob to his friend and host actor Leo Rossi.PRETEND is on YouTubeMake sure to subscribe to the PRETEND YouTube channel. I will pick 10 subscribers at random and mail them a screen printed PRETEND t-shirt."Fuhggedaboutit"-------Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier at info@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brian Earl with the Christmas Past podcast shares a Christmas story you’ve probably never heard before. In the early 1900s, children’s letters to Santa Claus never made it to the North Pole. They landed in the dead letter office and were eventually destroyed.But along came John Gluck, a hustler who took these letters to Santa and turned it into an opportunity to get rich and famous.It’s the strange and true story of government agents, spies, an art thief, U.S. presidents, and gun-toting boy scouts.Check out “My Dear Santa” with Brian Earl from the Christmas Past podcastMy Dear Santa: A True Crime Christmas Caper-------Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier a voice memo or short written description at info@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember when we used to go out to parties? Well, since you can't really go out these days, today we're going to celebrate together. In this episode we're talking about party crashers.Act 1: How to crash a partyOur first story is about the art of crashing a party. What do you need to do to attend a party you weren't invited to without ever getting caught? Megan Gillikin a wedding planner and the host of the Wedding for Real Podcast shows us how.Act 2:The White House party crashersOur second story, is about the greatest party crasher story of all time. The date was November 24th, 2009. Two Washington D.C. socialites were on their way to the White House state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Tareq and Michaele Salahi, the stars of the Real Housewives of D.C., crashed the White House State Dinner. How were they able to crash the most secure party on Earth?Act 3:A party crasher's confessionWe end the show with stories from listeners like you about a time you crashed a party.Oh, and by the way, just a warning. Some parts of this episode are not suitable for young children. Just want to put that out there.--------Have you ever crashed a party?Do you have a party crashing story you would like to share? Leave me a voicemail at (919) 867-1871. Or email me javier [at] pretendradio [dot] org.-------Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier at info@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A real-life Indiana Jones? The word on the street is that Michael Torres is Ph.D. by day and a treasure hunter by night. Torres claims he has an aeronautical engineering degree from Duke University. Don’t believe him? He has a photo of his diploma. Michael Torres also claims to have taught at MIT Lincoln Laboratory. He has the library card to prove it. When he’s not in the classroom, Torres is out looking for treasure. He claims he raided catacombs in Turkey, he’s recovered one of Sir Francis Drake’s sunken ship. And most recently, he discovered what he believes is a pre-Incan Peruvian burial mask off the eastern coast of Florida. But like unlike Dr. Indiana Jones, some have accused him of stolen valor by exaggerating his military career. They say Torres falsely represented himself as a war hero with two Purple Heart medals. His critics say not to believe a word he says. For instance, Michael Torres says he discovered a mass Jewish mass grave in Savannah, Georgia. Is he a serious treasure hunter or just a hack who makes up stories in order to gain attention? As a spectator in the world of fraud, I allow myself to get sucked in towards the center of the storm of lies. I do this with great caution. The closer I get, the more believable the stories get. And unlike victims, who are emotionally and financially invested, it's easier for me to circle just outside the hurricane's eye wall. In today’s episode, I’ll let you be the judge. Is Michael Torres a war hero/treasure hunter? Or is he a con artist?-------Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier at info@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode, Michael Torres discovers "a mass Jewish grave." But is it what he thinks it is? And I talk to the CEO of Seafarer Exploration to figure out why he hasn't found a single treasure in 13 years. -------Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier at info@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A modern-day pirateMichael Torres is a self-proclaimed pirate. He says his most recent finds include the crown jewels of a pre-Incan civilization, a missing colonial settlement, and a desecrated Jewish burial site at Bonaventure cemetery. These larger-than-life discoveries have come into question. In today’s episode, we’ll follow the evidence to separate fact from fiction. Seafarer ExplorationMichael Torres is currently being sued by Seafarer Exploration, a treasure salvage company. The company says Torres lied about his credentials and has set them back financially. Today, we take a closer look at Seafarer Exploration to understand how this company stays afloat. After all, they’ve been around for 13 years, have millions of dollars in debt, and have yet to find a treasure.-------Story idea? If you have a story to share, email Javier at info@pretendradio.org.For more episodes like this visit pretendradio.org.To get early releases and bonus episodes go to pretendradio.org/donate Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices