Good Assassins
iHeartPodcasts and Diversion
Season 2 is the unbelievable but true story of the greatest spy of World War II. The Nazis don't know her name, but they want this woman dead. A mysterious agent is strategically dismantling their violent grasp on France and not only leading her own resistance factions but inspiring others. The Gestapo sends their devious double-agent, the priest Robert Alesh, to hunt down The Limping Lady before she threatens their entire push for Western Europe. But Virginia Hall was tougher and more resilient than they ever expected. Season 1 was a Top 10 hit with millions of listeners, making it one of the...
Introducing: Once Upon A Con
Caroline D'Amore thought she'd found a mentor in David Bloom, a self-proclaimed power player with ties to some of the world’s most influential CEOs. But her excitement quickly turns to betrayal when David’s complex scheme to defraud her and others out of nearly a quarter of a million dollars is exposed. Determined to seek justice, Caroline takes matters into her own hands and turns the tables on the man once known as the “Wall Street Whiz Kid.” Who is David Bloom – and will he ever pay for his c
Feb 15, • 2:01
Introducing: Rip Current
Hi, Good Assassins listeners! iHeartPodcasts has geared up for a riveting new podcast called Rip Current hosted by Toby Ball! California, September 1975. Within a span of 17 days and less than 90 miles, two women, working separately, tried to assassinate the president of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. These are the only two times we know of that a woman has tried to assassinate an American president. Tune in to this top-tier true crime story, but don't just take our word for it, check out th
Sep 5, 2024 • 4:09
Introducing: There and Gone: South Street
There and Gone: South Street digs into the case of Danielle Imbo and Richard Petrone. Danielle and Richard left a bar in Philadelphia and were never seen again. Nearly two decades later, they have yet to be found. Unlike most cases, there is not a single piece of physical evidence. But the FBI knows there was foul play. In There and Gone: South Street, the podcast team begins their own investigation of Danielle and Richard’s disappearance with unprecedented access and cooperation from the FBI. L
Jul 1, 2024 • 2:51
Introducing: Betrayal Season 3
Stacey Rutherford thought she met her soulmate when she laid eyes on Dr. Justin Rutherford. They fell in love, and it was better than she ever imagined. But this family doctor, beloved father, and cherished husband had dark secrets. He had sworn to do no harm but would resort to any means necessary to save himself. We’re excited to share this Betrayal story with you and even more excited to tell you that you can get access to episodes 100% ad free with an iHeart True Crime+ subscription, avail
May 23, 2024 • 1:51
Introducing: The Burden
New York Times journalist Frances “Frenchy” Robles gets a tip about a group of wrongfully convicted men in the New York State prison system. The common denominator: many were arrested by the same detective. Frenchy tracks down the story in a surprise visit to prison. The Burden will be available everywhere you get your podcasts on March 19.All episodes will be available one week early and ad free, along with exclusive bonus content on Orbit’s newly launched “True Crime Club House” subscription c
Mar 19, 2024 • 16:14
Introducing: The Godmother
In the 1930s, Lucky Luciano, one of American history’s most notorious mobsters, was finally taken down by a rookie prosecutor. Eunice Carter was one of the first Black Women ever to become a prosecutor in America. She operated from the heart of the Harlem Renaissance to navigate the corrupt world of downtown Manhattan politics, and a deeply racist and sexist pre-civil rights American society. But her pioneering role in what became known as the “trial of the century” has been forgotten by popular
Jan 15, 2024 • 2:56
Introducing: Burden of Guilt
Burden of Guilt is an emotionally harrowing audio docu-series that tells the story of Tracyraquel Berns, a woman who has spent four decades at the center of one of the most bizarre and disturbing criminal cases in American History – surrounding the devastating and mysterious death of her baby brother. This podcast explores Tracyraquel’s pursuit for justice and her journey to confront the burden of guilt she has carried with her for the majority of her life. Listen to Burden of Guilt on the iHear
Oct 18, 2023 • 1:55
10. The Boy Who Shot the Nazi (Season 2)
Kristallnacht was the violent uprising against German Jews in November 1938 that was the opening to the eventual genocide of six million Europeans Jews—and then millions of others—during World War II. This final episode of Good Assassins Season 2 tells the story of Herschel Grynszpan, the young man whose story is at the dead center of the Holocaust. He became an assassin, and the assassination he committed on November 7, 1938 in Paris is the spark that set off the inferno that was the Nazi Holoc
Dec 6, 2022 • 38:03
9. Agents of Sabotage (Season 2)
Virginia Hall was back in occupied France, but she was no longer working for the British. She was an agent of the OSS, the forerunner of the CIA. Virginia was living in the farmhouse of a respected Resistance leader. She was spending her existence in disguise as an old woman, decked out in multiple wool skirts, makeshift prosthetics, and dyed gray hair; all the while constantly walking by wanted posters stapled around town with sketches of The Limping Lady. But this new life promised Virginia so
Nov 29, 2022 • 40:08
8. Return of The Limping Lady (Season 2)
Virginia Hall’s prison cell in northeastern Spain was something out of a nightmare. Hall imagined the moment in which the Spanish police would hand her over to the Gestapo and their glee at having finally captured "The Limping Lady." Hall knew the Nazis wouldn’t risk letting her escape. They’d transfer her to a secret facility, interrogate her, torture her, and kill her. Or sometimes the Nazis kept their prisoners alive and attempted to leverage them against the Allies. Months of psychological t
Nov 22, 2022 • 35:11
7. Escape into the Mountains (Season 2)
Virginia Hall’s identity was exposed. Now she had to get out of France and into Spain, and that meant an excruciating climb over 30 miles of tumultuous mountain terrain. Virginia knew that attempting the trek alone would mean death, especially given that she’d be hiking with her prosthetic leg. Luckily, Perpignan, the town she’d landed in, had a Resistance contact she knew fairly well. A man known to her by his codename: Gilbert.Edward Stourton: "If they were found out, things could be very, ver
Nov 17, 2022 • 29:58
6. Spy Versus Spy (Season 2)
Virginia Hall had been expecting company. One of the Resistance leaders in France had informed her of a new courier that could be of use to HECKLER, Virginia’s faction of the Resistance. But what Virginia didn’t know was that the courier was Robert Alesh—a Nazi operative who had managed to infiltrate the Resistance while posing as a priest. Right away, Virginia suspected something was off. This episode contains interviews with: • Karen Schaefer: worked for the CIA for 26 years on assignments ov
Nov 10, 2022 • 27:15
5. Enemy Territory (Season 2)
Robert Alesh’s hunt for “The Limping Lady” brings him to the doorstep of Resistance operative Dr. Jean Rousset. Alesh tricks the doctor into believing he is a new courier for the French Resistance. In reality, he was a Nazi spy working directly for infamous SS officer Klaus Barbie. Virginia Hall had successfully managed to save a British pilot from German clutches, but the rescue came with a cost. She’d exposed her alias to the Nazis and now she had to move. Virginia abandons her safe house and
Nov 3, 2022 • 29:14
4. Spy Games (Season 2)
Virginia Hall joins the UK's spy agency, the Special Operations Executive. The SOE was created to "set Europe ablaze" and wreak havoc on the battlefield: sabotage plus a little espionage, paramilitary operations, make things blow up.After spy training, Virginia heads into the field in Lyon, France, a strategic location for the Allies. They're planting the seeds of a Resistance there and it's a hotspot for Nazi activity. Virginia hooks into the Resistance network but the walls around her begin to
Oct 27, 2022 • 36:15
3. The Priest (Season 2)
A Nazi spy is tasked with uncovering underground Allied resistance networks. He was favored by the SS as a top hunter. Robert Alesh was a Luxembourger priest better known in France by his alias: "Father Robert Ackuin." The raids, arrests, and executions that Alesh’s treacherous work made possible set British intelligence back months. Alesh’s time as a priest served him well in his search for Jews and the Allied spies. Alesh begins working for one of the most evil men in history: the head of the
Oct 20, 2022 • 32:15
2. The Death of Old Lives (Season 2)
Virginia Hall enlists in France's organization that provided medical assistance to soldiers on the battlefield. It would be a grueling endeavor. Virginia is given basic medical training, learning how to apply tourniquets and bandages on some of the worst wartime injuries recorded in human history. They were supposed to work in the echoes of gunfire, long after the battle was over, but she often found herself closer to firefights and exploding shells than she expected. Virginia was given a job as
Oct 20, 2022 • 25:58
1. The Greatest Spy of WWII (Season 2)
The story of one of the most consequential spies in American history. Her name was Virginia Hall, and she was known to the Nazis as "The Limping Lady." The Nazis called her “the most dangerous of all Allied spies.” From spy to resistance leader, her story is a thrilling tale of a woman whose efforts in the face of fascism, racism, sexism, and ableism saved thousands of lives.There’s maybe no figure of espionage in all of history like Virginia Hall. She embodies a lot of what’s amazing about fict
Oct 20, 2022 • 33:17
Trailer: Good Assassins Season 2
This season of Good Assassins is the dramatic story of a different kind of spy: the greatest spy of World War II. A mysterious agent is strategically dismantling the Nazis’ violent grasp on France. They send a devious double-agent to hunt down “The Limping Lady” before she threatens their genocidal plans. But Virginia Hall was tougher than they ever expected. With deep archival research, rare primary source tape, expert interviews, powerful recreations, and a heavy dose of thriller, author and j
Oct 13, 2022 • 1:09
Coming Soon: Season 2
The woman in the jail cell was proving to be a problem. It was November 13, 1942, and she’d arrived in San Juan de las Abadesas the day before. She was discovered at the train station with three strange men. When the Spanish officers demanded to see their passports, none of them could produce one. The woman was separated from the group and thrown into a cold, isolated cell. The notes in her arrest file only deepened the mystery of her identity. Her Spanish was formal and her accent sounded Frenc
Sep 1, 2022 • 2:05
News About Season 2
Good Assassins fans, this is Stephan Talty, jumping back into your podcast feed with some exciting news: Good Assassins Season 2 is coming soon! We can’t tell you all the details of the incredible new story we’re exploring for Season 2 — not just yet — but trust me: it’s another good one. There are a few million of you out there that listened to Season 1, so we know the pressure’s on. But we’re pretty excited to say: we’ve uncovered another thrilling, mysterious spy story for you to dig your ear
Mar 7, 2022 • 1:39
Listen to "I Am Kobe"
Introducing a new podcast from Diversion Podcasts & iHeartRadio. What if we could go back in time, before he became the icon, and ask him: how did you become Kobe Bryant? “I Am Kobe” tells the story of Kobe Bryant’s early life through his coaches, his family, his friends. With never-before-heard intimate tapes of Kobe himself. His thoughts, his dreams, his goals from his teenage years, revealed for the first time. Listen to “I Am Kobe” for free on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, and all the
Nov 16, 2021 • 1:36
S1-E12: New Questions & Conspiracies
We asked listeners for your questions: Things you didn’t hear in "Hunting the Butcher" and were curious about, or other stories the podcast got you thinking about. Many of your questions prompted new research. In this episode, Stephan Talty answers listeners' questions and digs deeper into the issues the audience brought up. We received amazing queries from all over the world: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, the US and elsewhere. Some of them were from families of Holocaust survivors and
Jun 11, 2021 • 34:59
S1-E11: Mossad's Greatest Hits & Misses
The Cukurs operation barely scratches the surface of what Mossad has done over the years. Mossad has been, “involved in special operations and activity in the service of the State of Israel, such as the pursuit of Nazi criminals.” This episode explores some of the most important operations the agency has carried out. Stephan Talty describes missions you’ve probably never heard of but that shaped the Middle East and the whole world.The episode contains interviews with Robert Baer, accomplished fo
Jun 4, 2021 • 51:43
S1-E10: Motives for Murder
The story of the spy and the murderer isn't over. There is something missing in the story: the answer to the question of *why*. Why did Herbert Cukurs go from being a national hero to a mass murderer? Stephan Talty speaks to some striking characters to try and finally answer that question. It turns out to have more sides than we originally thought.The opinion of most people was that Cukurs had always been a secret anti-Semite. Before the war, he’d hidden this hatred inside himself. But really he
May 28, 2021 • 50:26
S1-E09: Judgment Day
Judgment Day had arrived: February 23, 1965. Herbert Cukurs carried his gun in a leather holster as he boarded the plane to Uruguay and headed off into what he must have imagined was his new life. The men of the Mossad kill team were spread out in various hotels across Montevideo. They woke up early on that February morning and began to get ready for the Butcher’s arrival. The spy later wrote, “We planned a very brief court-martial in which we intended to read the charges to [Cukurs], in the nam
May 21, 2021 • 53:00
S1-E08: The Ticking Clock
The spy was happy to be back home, but his mission wasn’t complete. The final act was still to take place in Uruguay. So in the Mossad apartment in the heart of Paris, the kill team started to plan the assassination. They were going ahead with the plan. The debate in the German Parliament was coming up in a few months. They all hoped a successful mission would influence it. “Good Assassins: Hunting the Butcher" came out of Stephan Talty's work on a related book, The Good Assassin. Explore other
May 14, 2021 • 48:26
S1-E07: The Method of Death
By the winter of 1964, the mission was coming into focus. In Brazil, the spy continued to meet with Herbert Cukurs, stoking The Butcher's excitement for his coming wealth and making sure he’d be willing to travel outside of Brazil. Yosef Yariv had chosen his kill team and they were training under the Krav Maga master, Imi Lichtenfeld.“Good Assassins: Hunting the Butcher" came out of Stephan Talty's work on a related book, The Good Assassin. Explore other parts of this story in the book: Buy The
May 7, 2021 • 38:01
S1-E06: The Kill Team
The spy had gotten a step closer to the Butcher. Comparing Israel's mission to assassinate Herbert Cukurs to the US mission to assassinate Osama Bin Laden, the latter was revenge. But when Israel and Mossad decided to kill The Butcher of Latvia, it was to prevent more killing of Jews. Things were starting to heat up with the Statute of Limitations, which was the whole reason for the mission: to stop Germany from giving Nazi killers a free pass for their atrocities. Importantly, a famous Nazi hun
Apr 30, 2021 • 50:16
S1-E05: Baiting the Hook
Herbert Cukurs invited "Anton Kuenzle" to visit him at his home, not knowing, of course, "Kuenzle" is the spy Mio, undercover. So the spy prepares for the meeting. He doesn't know what Cukurs wants, which was the real question. Most spies use a handful of motives to get people to do what they want: money, sex, patriotism. But Cukurs was an odd fish. He seemed to want to be a hero again, to be beloved. The spy couldn’t offer him that - so what could he dangle in front of the Butcher?“Good Assassi
Apr 23, 2021 • 38:38
S1-E04: Acquiring the Target
The spy surveils his target and finally meets Herbert Cukurs — The Butcher of Latvia — in person. Mio had known people like the Butcher earlier in his life. He’d grown up in Germany during the rise of Hitler. Now he was getting to know a Nazi again, being friendly, even drinking with him. Mio kept his parents in his mind constantly. He actually dreamt about them during the mission — bad dreams. So for Mio it was something he could not forget and he could not forgive. Mio said when he was given t
Apr 16, 2021 • 37:32
S1-E03: The Man of 100 Identities
The spy transforms into his cover identity. He will travel to Brazil, where his assassination target is living, and attempt to lure him into a trap. If his cover fails, Herbert Cukurs — The Butcher of Latvia — may kill him. But before Cukurs could be placed on a kill list, and before Mossad could begin to track him down, Cukurs’ pursuers had to be sure he was the right guy. Was this really the Butcher of Latvia? “Good Assassins: Hunting the Butcher" came out of Stephan Talty's work on a related
Apr 9, 2021 • 42:33
S1-E02: The Killer's History
Who was the Butcher of Latvia? Before World War II Herbert Cukurs was a a national hero. He put Latvia on the map. If you’re looking for an American equivalent, think Amelia Earhart or Charles Lindbergh. Cukurs was a big deal. But after the Nazis occupied Latvia, Cukurs became a monster, participating in the murder of 30,000 men, women, and even children. How did this decorated and ingenious aviator betray friends and neighbors and became a savage criminal with the blood of thousands on his hand
Apr 2, 2021 • 34:51
S1-E01: The Spy & The Murderer
A spy named Mio is called to a secret meeting in Paris. The Israeli government — and its spy agency, Mossad — has decided that Herbert Cukurs, "The Butcher of Latvia", one of the most savage and prolific Nazi killers, must be tracked down and assassinated in South America, where's he's now living. Mio must assume a secret identity, fly to Brazil, hunt down The Butcher and gain his trust, maybe even befriend him. The German government is considering an amnesty law for all the murderers of the Hol
Apr 2, 2021 • 44:56
