Investigative reporter Matt Katz has been searching for his biological father since he was a little kid. But it wasn't until his 40s that he realized he was on the wrong journey altogether. The true story is wrapped in confusion and secrecy, and in the end it upended the truth about who he is – raising questions about identity, fatherhood, medical ethics and what family really means. But will finding answers make him whole, or just make things even more complicated?
“One of those rare stories in which a deeply personal narrative collides with a hidden history. I count it among my favorites of all time.” – Vogue, The Best Podcasts of 2024
Vitaly Yurchenko's defection to the United States in 1985 sparks suspicion within the CIA, as the agency questions his motives and the truthfulness of his information.
18 Nov 2024TRANSCRIPT
NEW SHOW: Unfit For Service
Randy Taylor became a soldier to serve America. But he was forced to live a life plagued by paranoia, secrecy and isolation. For years, Randy hid his true identity while risking his life in the United States Army. This is his harrowing, untold story.
14 Oct 2024TRANSCRIPT
New Series: How It All Went South
From long-time collaborators Sean Kipe and Jason Hoch comes ‘How It All Went South’, the new twice weekly podcast and video series where we share all the crazy stories we've been saving up for years. Until now.
7 Aug 2024TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Noble
In the winter of 2002, police discovered more than 300 bodies on one property in the tiny town of Noble, Georgia. What followed was one of the biggest and most expensive investigations in the history of the American South. To get to the bottom of this forgotten case, journalist Shaun Raviv visits a rural community with plenty of secrets.
He discovers the epic history of the well-respected family who owned the property, uncovers the fates of the bodies sent to a crematory called Tri-State, and searches for the mysterious man at the center of it all. And in the process, Shaun explores one of the most primal and vexing questions we face as human beings: What do the living owe the dead?
28 Jun 2024TRANSCRIPT
Introducing: Drowning Creek
In the early morning hours of November 2, 2007, Justin Gaines walked out of a popular nightclub on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia and was never seen again. The investigation into Gaines' disappearance quickly went cold and remained so until 2015, when a man confessed to taking part in his murder. Though this detailed confession described what happened to Justin Gaines, who was involved, and where his body was placed, no arrest has ever been made. Host Sean Kipe digs into this story to find out what really happened to Justin Gaines and tries to make sense of the still ongoing investigation. But as Sean gets deeper, he finds himself in an underworld of drugs, money, and murder.
Episodes of Drowning Creek are released every Friday and you can listen wherever you get your podcasts. (https://link.chtbl.com/inctrufd)
16 May 2024TRANSCRIPT
Pater Familias | Chapter 8
Chasing ghosts, and finding love, where it all began. Sometimes you’re so focused on what you want, that you forget what you already have.
9 May 2024TRANSCRIPT
Father Roles | Chapter 7
It’s time to make the phone call.
2 May 2024TRANSCRIPT
Vincent | Chapter 6
Even as I'm warned against digging up ghosts, I double down on my pursuit to uncover the identity of my real biological father by bringing in a professional.
25 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
Ghost Father | Chapter 5
I uncover the scale of the lies and deceit that characterized infertility care for decades. Maybe I’ve been searching in the wrong place all along.
18 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
More of Us | Chapter 4
My search for my father takes me overseas. And I speak with someone grappling with their own emotional fallout around family revelations.
11 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
The Doctor | Chapter 3
When I track down the doctor who treated my mother in the 1970s, I'm left with the uneasy sense that a minor medical procedure done four decades earlier has life-altering ramifications.
4 Apr 2024
Sisters | Chapter 2
A DNA test turns up some shocking details about my identity. It means that everything I thought was true about my father could be wrong.
4 Apr 2024
Sisters
A DNA test turns up some shocking details about my identity. It means that everything I thought was true about my father could be wrong.
4 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
Warren | Chapter 1
As a kid, my biological father was in and out of my life. Then, he disappeared entirely. When I finally found him again, it left me with even more questions.
4 Apr 2024TRANSCRIPT
Warren
As a kid, my biological father was in and out of my life. Then, he disappeared entirely. When I finally found him again, it left me with even more questions.
25 Mar 2024TRANSCRIPT
Coming Soon: Inconceivable Truth
Matt Katz has been searching for his father since he was a little kid. But it wasn't until his 40s that he realized he was on the wrong journey altogether.
Inside a recent episode
NEW SERIES: The Redefector
Published 24 Apr 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] As the agency was scrambling to find answers on a hot summer day in Rome, in walked a Soviet colonel named Vitaly Yurchenko. He wanted to defect to the United States immediately. In exchange for exfiltration to the US and total secrecy, Yurchenko would tell the Americans everything he knew, and he knew a lot, because he was the highest ranked KGB officer at that time ever to defect. In fact, he knew about a CIA mole, a man who would have been in a position to know about all the covers that had just been blown. But the question was, was he telling the truth? Do you think Vitaly Yurchenko was a plant? […]
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