REDACTED: Declassified Mysteries with Luke Lamana

Inspired by Wondery’s hit podcast Against the Odds—learn how to survive whatever nature can throw at you through gut-twisting true stories of survival on the brink

How to Survive Against the Odds places you at the center of fifteen real life-or-death scenarios. Each story explores the physiological responses of the human body under unbearable conditions, how to counteract them, and strategies for survival from doctors and p...

Towards the end of WWII, Winston Churchill decided it was time for Britain to develop deadly bioweapons. He chose a remote island off of Scotland where experiments could be carried out away from human contact. But toxic secrets often have a way of resurfacing. Years later, a group of environmental activists called ""Dark Harvest"" would force Britain to confront its contaminated past. The story of Anthrax Island is one of ...

Towards the end of WWII, a rogue group of German conspirators realized what they had to do to protect the future of their country: kill Adolf Hitler. But eliminating the Führer was easier said than done. Dud bombs, botched assassination attempts, and cruel twists of fate spared Hitler’s life again and again. In the end, fake news of his death set the gears of Operation Valkyrie into motion – to deadly results. 

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In Part Two of this two-part series, CIA Director Allen Dules' plan to invade Cuba goes disastrously wrong. Though this political mastermind thinks he has everything under control, he quickly learns that he underestimated the young American President, John F. Kennedy.

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In Part One of this two-part series, the CIA Director and political chessmaster, Allen Dulles, has his eyes set on overthrowing the Cuban Dictator, Fidel Castro. But though Dulles thinks he has every move figured out, he unwittingly puts the pieces in motion for one of the greatest embarrassments in American history. 

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In the early 1950s, the US Air Force launched a top-secret program to investigate reports of UFO sightings and determine whether they posed a national security threat. Dubbed Project Blue Book, the program examined nearly 12,000 accounts of UFO activity before it was shut down and classified in 1969. But as rumors spread about the nature of the investigation, the public began to wonder what the government was hiding.

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After the tragic events of 9/11, Edward Snowden decides to do his patriotic duty and joins the US Military. When he moves up to systems engineer at the CIA, he stumbles across a secret that will change the world forever: the American Government is spying on its citizens. In the end, Snowden is forced to sacrifice everything he holds dear to make America's dark secret public.

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In 1960s New York, cop Frank Serpico discovered a brutal truth: his fellow officers were on the take. Gambling dens and drug rings were being secretly protected by the NYPD. When Serpico refused to join in, he became a marked man. His attempts to expose corruption hit wall after wall. Finally, he went public and sparked the biggest police scandal in NYC history. His sacrifice exposed decades of corruption – and nearly cost...

During the Cold War, the US built a secret underground city 100 feet under Greenland’s ice cap. It was disguised as a research facility but was actually meant as a site to launch missiles at Russia. The project failed and turned into a radioactive wasteland. But in the end, this classified military project accidentally revolutionized climate science. 

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As World War II raged on, America deployed its strangest weapon yet: a fake army. Known as the Ghost Army, this group of artists, architects, and actors used inflatable tanks and sound effects to deceive Hitler’s forces about the size and location of Allied troops on the attack. The Ghost Army's top-secret deception saved thousands of lives - but their story stayed buried for decades. 

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On the night of his 20th birthday, Tim Foley's world was turned upside down when the FBI stormed his home and arrested his parents. At first, it seemed like a terrible mistake. But soon, he learned the truth—his parents were not an ordinary suburban couple. They were Russian spies living a decades-long lie. Their arrest exposed a vast network of ""sleeper agents"" - spies who had spent years building fake American lives, r...

In 1972, Alabama farmer Charlie Pollard discovered a horrifying truth. For 40 years, he thought he was getting treatment for syphilis. Instead, he was part of a secret government study. Hundreds of Black men were denied medicine while doctors watched the disease destroy their bodies. The truth about this cruel experiment stayed buried until one whistleblower finally came forward.

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In the summer of 1776 as war with the British loomed over the American colonies, a shocking betrayal was brewing within General George Washington’s inner circle. His personal bodyguards were secretly plotting to kidnap him and end the revolution before it truly began. As tensions rose in New York, Washington raced to uncover the treachery in his ranks – before it was too late.

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President Ronald Reagan faced two major problems in 1981. A Communist revolution had taken hold in Nicaragua. And in Lebanon, militants were holding American hostages. Reagan's team created a secret plan to solve both issues at once. It was highly illegal and it turned into one of the most shocking scandals in American history. The story connects unlikely dots: weapons, hostages, rebels, and lies.

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The Cold War made America desperate for new weapons. The military looked beyond nuclear bombs into chemicals and drugs: LSD and Sarin gas. But first, they needed test subjects. They turned to their own soldiers and turned men into lab rats. Today’s episode explores two stories about these experiments and their lasting effects on the soldiers they treated as guinea pigs. 

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In 1979, prosecutor Terry Hake made a bold choice. He agreed to go undercover for the FBI and report on widespread corruption in the Chicago courts. As he navigated a world of bribery and backroom deals, Hake risked everything to take down some of the most powerful figures in Cook County’s justice system. But the deeper he went, the more dangerous his mission became.

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In 1967, the CIA and Bolivian army joined forces to hunt down revolutionary leader Che Guevara through the Andes mountains. After leaving Cuba, Guevara and a small guerrilla force secretly entered Bolivia, aiming to spark a communist revolution across South America. But as his health failed and local support crumbled, Guevara's final mission — and death — would transform him into a legend.

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Benjamin Franklin is known for his role as a Founding Father, inventor, and diplomat. But he had another role: spymaster. As the American colonies fought for independence against the British, Franklin traveled to Paris to help win French support. But as it turned out, he was entering a world of deception and intrigue. British spies lurked everywhere. And one of them had the power to sabotage the revolution before it had ev...