Mark Blocksom found himself inside Synanon in the 80s, a notorious rehab program criticized for abusing its members, and was rescued by friends who were actively working to help deprogram members of the bigger cults at that time, including the Moonies and Hare Krishna.

They hired Mark to help share his experiences, but what he gravitated to were the actual rescues of cult victims, which were generally illegal kidnappings requested by family members.

Mark shares his adventures and the inner satisfaction and the global fame he earned doing this work. His own life story was more complicated, and while he ultimately prevailed over his personal battles, he recently passed away. Rest in peace, Mark. Your good heart inspires us.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Retired FBI Agent Stewart Fillmore had a natural interest in history, true crime, and especially the irregular way the fact-finding was done in the case of the JFK assassination. Trained to break down evidence to solve crimes and build cases, Stewart focused on the forensics of the shooting, and the likelihood that the hole in the front of the late President’s throat was an entry wound, not an exit wound as originally concluded.

He walks us through the evidence he’s gathered, and what it tells him about the nature of the crime. Importantly, his account aligns with prior HBH guest Tosh Plumley, that there was a shooter to the left of the President’s automobile, from the top of the South Knoll.

Stewart was originally going to write his conclusions in a book, but instead wrote up a technical Brief as he was trained to do in the FBI, and sent it to the appropriate authorities, and the White House. He received a nice thank you note from the White House, but he’s still waiting for a response from his former employer.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com

Early in the morning of October 23, 1983 two truck bombs were detonated at buildings in Beirut Lebanon housing members of the US and French Multinational Force in Lebanon – a military peace mission in the eight-year-old Lebanese civil war. The attack by a terrorist group called Islamic Jihad, which had backing from the governments of Iran and Syria, killed 307 people: 241 U.S. and 58 French military personnel, six civilians and two of the attackers.

Two hundred of the 241 US casualties were US Marines, making it the deadliest single-day death toll for the United States Marine Corps since the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II. Based on interviews with survivors, military records and personal records, Targeted Beirut by today's guest, Pulitzer Prize nominated historian and NYT bestselling author author James M. Scott, and past HBH guest Jack Carr is the authoritative account of the deadly attack.

Heroes Behind Headlines
Executive Producer Ralph Pezzullo
Produced & Engineered by Mike Dawson
Music provided by ExtremeMusic.com