Black Cowboys

The biggest Nancy Drew mystery isn’t hidden in the plots of the books. It’s right there on the cover. If “Carolyn Keene” is a pseudonym, who really wrote the series? For 50 years, two women laid claim to that title. And in 1980, with help from an amateur detective, the truth came out in court.

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Very Special Episodes is a new podcast where we tell one incredible story each week. Follow us down a different rabbit hole every Wednesday.

Hosted by Dana Schwartz, Zaron Burnett, Jason English
Written by Zaron Burnett
Producer, Editor, and Sound Designer is Josh Fisher
Additional Editing and Sound Design by Jonathan Washington
Mixing and Mastering by Baheed Frazier
Story Editor is Marisa Brown
Research and Fact-Checking by Jocelyn Sears, Austin Thompson, Marisa Brown, and Zaron Burnett
Original Music by Elise McCoy
Show Logo by Lucy Quintanilla
Executive Producer is Jason English

Special thanks to Elizabeth Dutton, Katie Mattie, and Josh Fisher for their elite voiceover work. And to Geoffrey Lapin and Melanie Rehak for sharing their stories. Go check out Melanie's book!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bass Reeves was the most lethal lawman in the wild west. Over his 32-year career Reeves arrested more than 3,000 alleged criminals, and killed more than a dozen of them. But the image of a formerly enslaved Black man riding around on horseback with a license to kill tended to make white people uncomfortable. Hear how Bass Reeves commitment to justice overcame racism, and even his own family bonds.

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Since she was a little girl, Marcy DePina felt drawn to a man called Daddy Grace, a charismatic immigrant from Cabo Verde, West Africa, who – during the violent Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras – traveled around the United States preaching, healing, and building his megachurch.

But who was Daddy Grace? For all his accomplishments, he seems to raise more questions than answers. Like why isn’t he more known and celebrated in the Cape Verdean community? And when Marcy brings him up to her family, why do some people refuse to talk about him? And most importantly: Marcy wants to know, are she and Daddy Grace actually related?

For more on Sweet Daddy Grace, check out SweetDaddyGrace.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Since she was a little girl, Marcy DePina felt drawn to a man called Daddy Grace, a charismatic immigrant from Cabo Verde, West Africa, who – during the violent Jim Crow and Civil Rights eras – traveled around the United States preaching, healing, and building his megachurch.

But who was Daddy Grace? For all his accomplishments, he seems to raise more questions than answers. Like why isn’t he more known and celebrated in the Cape Verdean community? And when Marcy brings him up to her family, why do some people refuse to talk about him? And most importantly: Marcy wants to know, are she and Daddy Grace actually related?

Listen to Sweet Daddy Grace now on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts!

For more on Sweet Daddy Grace, check out SweetDaddyGrace.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.