PRETEND

Latest Episodes:

The Stalker: Shelbey Fernandez Speaks, Part 23 Aug 28, 2026

Show notes

It's like getting to the end of a movie and discovering the twist, then going back to the beginning because every scene means something else. That's what I've been doing all week with the Rick and Tanya Fernandez interviews. This time we're looking at Shelbey Fernandez's surgeries, what the doctor told police in 2019, and new audio from Shelbey Fernandez herself, recorded before her arrest.

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The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 3 Aug 25, 2026

Show notes

Long before Gypsy Rose Blanchard's mother was murdered, the tension inside that house was already at a breaking point. The private videos between Gypsy and Nick Godejohn that nobody was supposed to see. The evidence of violence that the HBO documentary never showed you. And the text messages from the night of June 9th, 2015, read out loud, minute by minute. They are not what you expect.

Gypsy's critics say she was the violent one all along. That it was Dee Dee who had reason to be afraid.

Chapters

00:00 Everyone Has A Hot Take
02:26 The BB Gun
04:09 Chained To The Bed
05:11 Why Not Just Run Away?
07:23 Nancy Simpson: She Was Shopping For A Man
09:22 That Bitch Is Dead
10:40 Victim Doesn't Mean Innocent
11:19 The Plea Deal
13:17 When Nick Became The Victim
16:16 Functions Like A 10-Year-Old
17:52 I Still Love Her
18:43 Activating The Dark Side
20:34 The Texts From June 9, 2015
23:58 What Gypsy Makes Of It
25:15 Andrea Dunlop On The Autism Argument
26:56 Grace And Accountability
28:01 Why Don't They Show You The Same Grace?
29:35 On The Plea Deal
30:15 Is It In All Of Us?

Binge more episodes ad-free on Patreon at patreon.com/pretendpodcast or PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts.

Written and produced by Javier Leiva. Edited by Puneet Shenoy with The Podcast Pundits. Theme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net.

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The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 2 Aug 18, 2026

Show notes

Her critics say Gypsy Rose Blanchard can't keep her story straight. So I sat down with her for almost three hours and asked about all of it. The pills through the feeding tube. The video where she tells Nick Godejohn she'd been hiding that she could walk since she was seven. And the Demona videos she has never addressed in front of a reporter.

You'll also meet the mother-daughter team behind Into the Weeds (youtube.com/@into-the-weeds-podcast), whose records requests produced what the internet calls the Gypstein Files.

Binge the first three episodes now, ad-free, on Patreon (patreon.com/pretendpodcast) or PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts.

Chapters:

(00:00) Beignets And A Drive Into The Bayou

(01:50) The Questions Her Critics Say She Dodges

(02:36) No Mansion, Just A Fourplex

(04:48) The Breaking Point Was A Throat Surgery

(06:47) This Is My Voice

(08:19) Vicodin Through The Feeding Tube

(09:53) Did She Ever Go To School?

(11:46) Into The Weeds Files The Records Request

(12:59) What's Actually In The Gypstein Files

(15:59) The Video Where She Walks

(17:46) What Her Medical Records Say

(20:43) I Ask Gypsy To Settle It

(23:04) Videos Never Meant To Be Public

(25:56) Slave, Master, And An Old Facebook Account

(28:23) Dan Glidewell Testifies Under Oath

(29:46) The Demona Video

(34:25) Those Videos Were Disgusting

(35:14) Isolation And The Price Of Freedom

(36:10) Next Time On Pretend

Written by Javier Leiva. Edited by Puneet Shenoy with The Podcast Pundits. Theme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net.

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The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Part 1 Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is the most beloved convicted murderer in America. Half the country sees a victim. The other half thinks she conned everyone, including her mother.

I spent months trying to figure out which side is telling the truth. Then I emailed Gypsy. A few hours later, we were on a call.

Chapters (00:00) The Most Beloved Convicted Murderer In America (01:35) The Short Version (02:53) It's All A Lie (03:41) Inside Her Medical Records (05:26) Allergic To Sugar (06:10) The Community That Flipped The Narrative (07:48) Andrea Dunlop Interviews Gypsy (09:41) Then I Read The Comments (11:20) Straight To The Source (11:52) Welcome To The Gypsyverse (13:04) The Internet Does What The Internet Does (15:35) Is Gypsy Rich? (17:22) What Are They A Fan Of? (19:22) Famous vs. Well-Known (20:12) Billboards, Flyers, And A Minor Child (23:14) Nick Godejohn Is Still In Prison (24:18) The Demona Clips (25:54) Would You Answer Uncomfortable Questions? (27:47) Next Time On Pretend (28:24) Update: The Prison Calls (30:28) What I Will And Won't Play

Binge the first three episodes now, ad-free, on Patreon (patreon.com/pretendpodcast) or PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts.

Leave a comment. I want to know what you think.

Written by Javier Leiva.

Edited by Puneeth Shenoy with the Podcast Pundits.

Theme music by Joe Basile, thechicken.net.

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The Gypsy Rose Obsession, Official Trailer Aug 11, 2026

Show notes

Gypsy Rose Blanchard is America's most beloved convicted murderer. The media told us she spent 23 years in a wheelchair, with a feeding tube, a breathing machine, and a diagnosis list that never ended. None of it was real. Her mother made it all up. And then Gypsy had her mother stabbed to death. When she walked out of prison in December 2023, not everyone was celebrating. A community formed online working together to dismantle her new life. So yeah. America's sweetheart is also a convicted murderer. And depending on who you ask, she's either the most sympathetic person alive, or the most dangerous woman on the internet. This is The Gypsy Rose Obsession. Coming August 11th on PRETEND podcast. Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2vaCjR7UvlN9aTIzW6kNCo?si=b3549d886084412a

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The Stalker: Police Say They Found Who Was Sending the Messages, Part 22 Aug 10, 2026

Show notes

For almost five years, the Fernandez family told me their doctor's husband was terrorizing them. Threatening messages, unpaid pizza deliveries, police at the door for crimes that never happened.

Three weeks ago, Peoria police surrounded their house with a search warrant and seized every device inside. Nobody was arrested that day. Then this week, Shelbey Fernandez children was booked into a Maricopa County jail on more than thirty counts, including stalking, making a terrorist threat, and sexual exploitation of a minor.

All charges are allegations. No one has been convicted, and the case is ongoing.

Catch up on the full series here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/41KG24W8b5Lz0dzHsU3LoP?si=3aaeef5a367d4c2d

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He Turned His Own Father In. Then Built a Career Catching Con Artists. Aug 04, 2026

Show notes

William Ruzich's father stole his identity while he was deployed in Afghanistan. He came home from war at 21 to find bills, liens, and creditors in his own name. He turned his own dad in for fraud.

Then he went to work catching people just like him.

William is a private intelligence operative now, tracking down scammers, fraudsters, and people who vanish with other people's money.

Coming August 11th: The Gypsy Rose Obsession, a new free series from PRETEND. Watch the trailer and subscribe:

https://youtu.be/9fcD0os3aG8

Kingdom Forge, a book by Anders Edwards that teaches kids about online safety, Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Ready Player One. Check it out:

https://a.co/d/0hpgdcYx

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How Edward Smog Scammed a Retired Nurse Out of $150K Jul 28, 2026

Show notes

My friend Joe sells real estate. He called me about one of his clients, a retired nurse who was selling her house, because something about her story wasn't sitting right with him. She'd lost her savings to a man named Edward Smog. Found her online, quoted her scripture, told her he was her way out of debt.

By the time I got involved, she was out a hundred and fifty grand. Now a new scammer is coming after her. She believes he's an offshore oil rig worker, and they're going to get married. I'm trying to stop him before he takes any more of her money.

If you or someone you love is being targeted, here's where to go.

To report it, the FBI runs the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, and the FTC takes reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
If you want to talk to a real person for free, call the National Elder Fraud Hotline run by the Department of Justice at 833-372-8311, seven days a week, 6am to 11pm Eastern. You can also reach the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360.

Tips for your elderly parents:

No real grant, agency, or lottery ever asks you to pay a fee to get money.
Gift cards, wire transfers to strangers, and crypto are how scammers get paid. Full stop.
If you've never met someone in person on a live video call, assume you don't know who they are.
Ask for that video call right now, not later. Take a screenshot of their photos and run a reverse image search. The excuses will tell you everything.
And before any money moves, tell one person who loves you. Out loud. The scam only survives in the quiet.

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Chain of Command: An Inside Man Speaks Jul 21, 2026

Show notes

Darnell Emanuel spent years inside Rony Denis's inner circle at the House of Prayer Christian Church. His name is on documents. His credit was used to buy houses he never lived in. But when the fraud finally caught up with the church, Darnell wasn't indicted.

In this bonus, Darnell walks us through the burner phones, the code names, and how the whole scheme worked. Plus, an update on Marjorie Denis. And what's happening at NTCC since the series aired.

The next two episodes are available right now on Patreon and PRETEND+ on Apple Podcasts.

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/pretendradio
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/pretend/id6443456985

Follow @pretendpod:

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@pretendpod
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pretendpod
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pretendpod

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The Greatest Footballer Who Never Played Revisited Jul 14, 2026

Show notes

We've covered a lot of PRETENDers on this show. But the guy in this one might take the prize.

Carlos Henrique Raposo, better known as Kaiser, fooled the entire professional soccer world in Brazil for 26 years. He signed with more than 30 clubs. He partied with George Michael. He got protected by Rio's most dangerous crime boss. He once punched a fan in the face rather than actually step on the field. And through all of it, he barely played a single real game.

This week we're revisiting one of our favorite conversations: an interview with Louis Myles, director of the 2015 documentary "Kaiser! The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football." Myles and his team spent 18 months in Rio chasing down the truth, or something close to it, behind Brazil's greatest football legend who never actually played football.

Watch the documentary:

"Kaiser! The Greatest Footballer Never to Play Football" (2015) is streaming on Amazon Prime.

Also from Louis Myles:

"Mighty Penguins," following the Brentford Penguins, a football team made up of players with Down syndrome, as they prepare to serve as guard of honour at a Premier League match. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2023 and is currently on the festival circuit.

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