Los Angeles, CA | Hollywood doesn’t just sell stories, it monetizes secrets. From mob-run extortion rings targeting Liberace to fixer Anthony Pellicano stockpiling wiretaps on the powerful, and David Letterman flipping the script on his own blackmailer, the pattern is clear. When image becomes currency, leverage becomes power. Gerald Petievich’s latest novel 13 Hillcrest Drive may be fiction, but the machinery behind it is real. In a city obsessed with controlling the narrative, the most dangerous weapon is the story someone else can tell about you.

I highly recommend Gerald Petievich’s book 13 Hillcrest Drive. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/13-Hillcrest-Drive-Gerald-Petievich/dp/1644284642. Learn more about his work: https://petievich.com/

Follow for episode photos and more at:
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/darkcitypod
🌎 Website: www.darkcitypodcast.com
✉️ Email: info@darkcitypodcast.com

📚 Sources:
https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/anthony-pellicano-hollywood-private-eye-talks-jackson-schwarzenegger/story?id=14263409
https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/Law/david-letterman-blackmailer-robert-halderman-sentenced/story?id=10552760
https://abcnews.com/TheLaw/story?id=3354065&page=1
https://abcnews.com/TheLaw/Stars/story?id=4591409&page=1
https://www.biography.com/crime/a43236975/who-is-anthony-pellicano-sin-eater-documentary
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/asithappens/as-it-happens-wednesday-edition-1.5349956/how-this-writer-got-an-apology-from-david-letterman-10-years-after-she-called-him-out-1.5349963
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/letterman-blackmail-extortion-plot-man-freed-from-jail/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/anthony-pellicano-scandal-major-players-are-1084481/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/letterman-extortionist-plans-return-tv-27531/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/joe-halderman-letterman-e_n_647690
https://lamag.com/celebrity/archives-machiavelli-muck/
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-11-me-pellicano11-story.html
https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-glover_020104-story.html
https://liberace.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/liberace-and-the-mob.pdf
https://news3lv.com/features/video-vault/video-vault-how-organized-crime-blackmailed-liberace
https://www.newsweek.com/anthony-pellicano-hollywood-phone-hacker-breaks-his-silence-67115
https://www.npr.org/2006/04/22/5357103/case-against-private-eye-rattles-hollywood
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/10/insider/investigating-hollywoods-fixer.html
https://people.com/celebrity/inside-story-how-celebs-thwart-their-blackmailers/
https://www.popsugar.com/entertainment/where-is-anthony-pellicano-now-49111314
https://www.today.com/news/david-lettermans-blackmailer-gets-new-tv-job-wbna45825288
https://www.today.com/popculture/effects-letterman-case-hard-judge-1c9401929
https://variety.com/2021/film/news/anthony-pellicano-joel-silver-daryl-katz-1234889846/
https://www.wbur.org/news/2009/10/03/us-tv-letterman-extortion
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/hollywood-fixer-stopped-nothing-scandals-091523985.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAU1nakZGHA

🎵 All music in this episode is sourced from Pixabay, with tracks including:
Quiet Suspicions (Emotional Suspenseful Drama) by MeeGiStudio
Sneaky Mystery Jazz by Sonican
Dramedy, Whimsical - Suspenseful Children Background FULL by zec53
Sneaky Music - Whimsica

Have ideas or suggestion? We would love to hear from you! Send us a text via this link.

👏 Special thanks to our talented partners:
Paolo Sbrighi for Musical Composition (instagram.com/paulosbrighi/)
Mario Cintra for Logo Design (instagram.com/alacarala/)

Two high-achieving twenty-somethings quit their dream jobs, strapped everything they owned to two bikes, and pedaled into the kind of freedom most of us only fantasize about during a bad Monday meeting. Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austen weren’t reckless thrill seekers. They were planners, idealists, the type who believed the world was mostly kind. So when their round-the-world cycling trip carried them into the mountains of Tajikistan and straight into the path of an ISIS attack, their story became more than a headline. It became a brutal collision between world views.

I highly recommend William Elliott Hazelgrove’s book Evil on the Roof of the World: A Cycling Trip that Ended in Terror if you want to go even deeper into this story. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Evil-Roof-World-Cycling-Terror/dp/B0F78H5VST

Follow for episode photos and more at:
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/darkcitypod
🌎 Website: www.darkcitypodcast.com
✉️ Email: info@darkcitypodcast.com

📚 Sources:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45026752
https://www.npr.org/2018/07/31/634373403/d-c-couple-killed-in-tajikistan-attack-were-biking-around-the-world-together
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/21/the-weekly/isis-bike-attack-tajikistan.html
https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/tajikistan-bike-murders-jay-austin-lauren-geoghegan/
https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/exploration-survival/american-cyclists-killed-isis-tajikistan/?scope=anon
https://www.simplycycling.org/

🎵 All music in this episode is sourced from Pixabay, with tracks including:
Mountain Wind by Siarhei Korbut
Peace of Mind – Calm Ambient Music by Clavier-Music
Bossa Nova Instrumental 01 by alanajordan
Ambient Background by playstarz_music
Seaside in Sorrow – Sad and Touching Soft Piano by HarumachiMusic
Desert Winds Meditation by NaturesEye
Midnight Whispers Creepy Dark Horror Background by TrenoX8
Piano Cinematic by The_Mountain
Inspirational Documentary Cinematic Piano by NotAIGenerated

Have ideas or suggestion? We would love to hear from you! Send us a text via this link.

👏 Special thanks to our talented partners:
Paolo Sbrighi for Musical Composition (instagram.com/paulosbrighi/)
Mario Cintra for Logo Design (instagram.com/alacarala/)

Montauk, NY | The premise for Stranger Things didn’t come from nowhere. We’re headed to Montauk, New York, where a real Cold War base, abandoned bunkers, and stubborn paper trails collide with a conspiracy theory that helped inspire Netflix’s biggest monster story. You’ll hear from Montauk native and author Brian Minnick, who explored Camp Hero as a kid, got chased by “security” years after the base supposedly closed, and found enough oddities to make one question what was actually sealed up and what kept running.

I highly recommend Brian Minnick’s book Montauk is Strange. You can find it here:
https://www.amazon.com/Montauk-Strange-Archives-Exploring-Project-ebook/dp/B0CYMCYPZ1

You can follow Brian and see exclusive videos of his underground explorations at https://www.instagram.com/montauk_is_strange/.

Follow for episode photos and more at:
📷 Instagram: instagram.com/darkcitypod
✉️ Email: info@darkcitypodcast.com

🐇 Sources:
https://facesoflongisland.newsday.com/montauk-lighthouse-keeper-tells-tall-tales-of-history-a-ghost-and-the-next-200-years/
https://montauklibrary.org/throwback-thursday-montauks-air-force-station/
https://nypost.com/article/camp-hero-montauk-project-conspiracy/
https://parks.ny.gov/visit/state-parks/camp-hero-state-park
https://play.history.com/specials/the-dark-files-3/full-special.
https://strangerthings.fandom.com/wiki/Hawkins_National_Laboratory
https://www.britannica.com/topic/MK-ULTRA
https://www.businessinsider.com/camp-hero-montauk-air-force-base-inspired-stranger-things-photos-2023-8
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00789R002800180001-2.pdf
https://www.history.com/articles/cia-esp-espionage-soviet-union-cold-war
https://www.history.com/articles/what-was-operation-paperclip
https://www.history.com/mkultra-operation-midnight-climax-cia-lsd-experiments
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/duffer-brothers-talk-stranger-things-916180/
https://www.masterclass.com/classes/the-duffer-brothers-teach-developing-an-original-tv-series
https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/the-dark-files-film-explores-montauk-s-mysterious-camp-hero-state-park-on-history-channel-v57264
https://www.npr.org/2014/02/15/275877755/the-secret-operation-to-bring-nazi-scientists-to-america
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/09/758989641/the-cias-secret-quest-for-mind-control-torture-lsd-and-a-poisoner-in-chief
https://www.phillyvoice.com/holmesburg-prison-inmate-experiments-apology-northeast-philadelphia-albert-kligma/
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/the-montauk-monster/
https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/stranger-things-duffers-lawsuit-montauk-project
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/09/16/fact-check-nazi-scientists-brought-u-s-operation-paperclip/5690870002/
Newsday. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBu4YlJENOc
MONTAUK: You're Not Going to Like This. The InBetween. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5ODjWTL8q0&t=2s
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-mercury-1960-radar-tower/187508067
https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call-montauk-camp-hero-opens/187510174/

🎵 Music from Pixabay:
Ambient - Dark - V1 by SenorMusica81
Stranger Things by Music_Unlimited
Cloudscape by Aonescape
Secret Enfoui
Cinematic Tension Soundscape by Lilliben
Mystical Emotions - Atmospheric Cinematic by Dvir Silverstone
Dark Story Investigator - Siniste

Have ideas or suggestion? We would love to hear from you! Send us a text via this link.

👏 Special thanks to our talented partners:
Paolo Sbrighi for Musical Composition (instagram.com/paulosbrighi/)
Mario Cintra for Logo Design (instagram.com/alacarala/)