Deep Cover: The Nameless Man

3,331

Deep Cover is a show about people who lead double lives. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Jake Halpern reveals webs of deception and dark underworlds, through interviews with federal agents and convicted criminals. 

Sarah Cavanaugh was many things: A decorated veteran. A Marine who saved her comrades. A young woman fighting cancer. She was stoic, humble, tough. In short: a hero. Sarah was everything people wanted her to be—until she wasn’t. Turns out, no one knew the real Sarah. Not her comrades. Not her wife. No one.  

Lies tend to be fragile, temperamental things. Small ones may flourish, but the big ones die, wilting under their own weight—except in this case. The bigger it grew, the more real it became.

Jake Halpern and acclaimed investigative journalist Jess McHugh unravel an epic six-year deception that upended the lives of countless people.

To this day, much of this story is shrouded in mystery. There was never a trial and most of the people involved, including victims and investigators, have never spoken publicly in any depth.

In the sixth season of Deep Cover: The Truth About Sarah, Jake and Jess interview all of the key sources—including Sarah, herself—to tell this sprawling tale.


 

Season five covers the rise and fall of George Santos, the former Republican Congressman from New York, and the stories—many of which were not true—he told about his life and credentials.

Season four, The Nameless Man, tells the epic tale of two federal agents who investigate a rumor about a murder that supposedly took place 15 years prior. It is also the story of a family searching for answers about why their brother was killed. These two storylines collide in a courtroom in Philadelphia, where murder, memory, and morality go on trial.     

Season three, Never Seen Again, tells the story of two women living on opposite sides of the country, who went missing in the summer of 1999. Seven years later, their stories collided when a small town detective got a tip and became convinced that if he could solve one mystery, he'd solve the other. 

Season two, Mob Land, is about a high-rolling lawyer who joins forces with the feds to try to bring down one of the most powerful criminal syndicates in the country. 

Season one, The Drug Wars, tells the story of an FBI agent who goes undercover with a biker gang, and follows a trail of clues that eventually leads to the US invasion of a foreign country.

Deep Cover drops on Mondays. To hear episodes early and ad-free, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus.

iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Recent Episodes
Episodes loading...
Recent Reviews
  • Jfhbcfjvdv
    Ads ads ads
    I prefer podcast to be longer as I can listen to them all day at work. I would never pay for this channel as after all the ads each episode is only 5 to 10 minutes.
  • Meg Elise
    Addicting
    This show is awesome! Great voices and a bingeable story.
  • nordseg
    Really good podcast
    Story is fascinating and the presentation is very well done.
  • runfoster
    Eagerly awaiting new episode each week
    I have thoroughly enjoyed all seasons of this show -each one exploring in depth the mystery and unfortunate consequences of someone or something intentionally misrepresented as someone or something else.
  • Malnickian
    The biggest mistake podcasts make
    Like many podcasts, this one started out great. Compelling story and fine narration but then it makes the mistake of drawing out the episodes with filler and repetitive content. It happens with so many podcasts. The first three or four episodes are great and then it just drags. It would be so much better if it had been cut down with fewer episodes.
  • Mlpwq88!
    Great listen despite cover art
    Exactly the kind of story I’m drawn to (like Scamanda) but the cover art looked so boring that I might never have found it. I assumed it was some sort of historical spy story! Glad I tried it anyway- very interesting and great listen.
  • annatheanon
    Good
    Interesting podcast. I am glad y’all explored the childhood trauma attached to the behavior. That’s something I felt was missing from Scamanda.
  • Goblue60004
    Solid with one major issue.
    Enjoyed the content overall. Solid production, structure and hosts. I was frustrated in episode 5 by the show making Sarah appear sympathetic by mentioning her past. I wouldn’t trust a single word out of her mouth and including anything not 100% verifiable through other sources is irresponsible
  • Travel-art-music
    Fascinating
    Great storytelling! I found the tale of Sarah’s double life completely addictive.
  • SargeTDubb
    Good, But…
    Really enjoying the pod, but I wish Jake would reel in the maudlin a bit….
  • Pumpilove
    Reporting at its finest
    Former print journalist here. This is a fascinating story well told.
  • RoGo18
    Season 6 is the best yet!
    Really enjoying season 6. It’s my favorite pod at the moment.
  • 555701
    Interesting Story and Well Told
    Great audio experience. Between the story, the editing and the music, you’re entertained the whole time.
  • @cesargonz
    Consistently Excellent Storytelling
    Season after season DC never disappoints. Their latest story is, up to now, told with their usual brilliance, empathy and engagement. Recommended!
  • rNPV Jeff
    Excellent
    I have stomach cancer. Sarah's story is a sad one to me even though she faked cancer. Deep Cover humanizes someone who digs her hole deeper. I think many of us can relate to that. "No matter how long you've going down the wrong road, turn back!" Sarah didn't.
  • nicoleLB
    Centering the wrong person
    You lost me when you gave the con artist a platform to continue her con by talking about how remorseful she is. Maybe that’s real, maybe that’s fake. Regardless, she shouldn’t have the attention of a national audience. Immediately unsubscribed
  • Mike6674
    Uninteresting
    Between the massive amount of ads and a 10 minute intro, you only get maybe 10 minutes of story per episode and the story isn’t even that interesting.
  • Jeminem
    Good Listen
    Good show and keeps my interest well! But does anyone else think that the host sounds like Ryan Reynolds?? Lol
  • csl writes
    The truth about Sarah
    Well structured to keep listeners listening. Really hard to hear Sarah be upset and talk about what she went through during this time, including suicidal ideation, because it’s not clear she’s really taking responsibility for the harm she caused. But her victims are interviewed at length too.
  • Nikky Kelley
    Humm
    How did Sam not know that she never had that scar? If they were intimate and together… She said Sara didn’t want to show her hip as a physical therapist but that makes no sense if they were together… Besides that… The story is interesting but it’s going over the same thing a lot…
  • anna4213
    Fantastic, Should be 5 ⭐️
    I think it’s wrong that ppl can rate a podcast based on ads vs content and affect the rating, skip them. This was top notch, well reported, intriguing, and had a first hand account. A fascinating insight into a fanatical liar.
  • doglover76754
    So glad I found this!
    Excellent podcast. And I don’t do many reviews on the many I listen to!
  • nhgirl724
    Excellent
    Very well done podcast. Well researched and delivered. Highly recommend!
  • EMoss777
    The Truth About Sarah
    I have listened to every season of Deep Cover and this one did not disappoint. Jake is fantastic at storytelling and his co-host this season is excellent. Highly recommend all seasons!
  • krs architect
    Some incredible stories and TRUE
    I enjoy these stories, they are suspenseful and “unbelievable but TRUE. I have liked most all of the stories and series, the one I didn’t. I skipped. I encourage you to check these out and I bet you’ll like them.
  • PJBINKLEY
    Well done
    Riveting and high quality
  • Danielle dee1111
    Season 6
    I haven’t listened to any season but season 6 at this point and I’m hooked. I hope the other seasons are just as enjoyable.
  • TJR-7
    Great Pod
    If you like long form reporting and storytelling this is a great podcast. Well put together. Good pace. The only season I didn’t like as much was season 5
  • Char’s got this
    Sadly interesting
    So many good people in the world willing to help. It’s a shame to see them get burned by this one person. So much to unwind and organize. Good job! Great narrating
  • Hargrove67
    Sarah
    Sarah
  • Shutupaboutthesun!
    Superficial
    No depth to these stories. Insane amount of ads. Unsatisfying.
  • d00dles4science
    Deep Cover!
    Interesting stories especially if you are into psychological stuff and investigative narratives- something beyond your average true crime story. I remember seeing the Esther Reid one on the news! I thought Jake did a great job and enjoyed listening to him outside of Stuff They Don’t Want You To Know! He was perfect for this. Fortunately there is a fast forward button so I am not forced to listen to the ads.
  • bunnyreebs
    Season Six Review
    This story blew me away. Once it was revealed around episode 4 where Sarah worked I actually dropped my mouth open on the train and gasped. Sarah, the liar and scammer is interviewed in the podcast which was interesting because I feel a huge amount of disgust for her. I’m not sure this level of deception is something you come back from on a personal level. What she did to the people in the story is truly shockingly despicable. The hosts letting her speak showed their journalism chops.
  • Longaway
    Drags
    Stories drag. Over reliance on suspense, create empathy and this listener. A little suspense works, too much and the story drags.
  • esj2654
    Nameless victim
    Really excellent investigative journalism. Bravo to the detectives & all of the Philadelphia police for helping to solve this horrible, senseless crime. My heart goes out to Aaron Wood’s family.
  • Nonicknames2
    Ads are insane
    Yet another podcast about a grifter -- think Belle Gibson, Elizabeth Holmes — with a truly indecent amount of ads. Makes it unlistenable.
  • mikewestside
    Fantastic
    Haven't been so interested in a podcast in a long time. Bravo.
  • 00010si
    Be Honest
    You are posing the question “how did this happen” and clearly playing dumb with the answer. It happened because the donor “Kathy” saw a GAY man who she thought could win a blue district and nothing else mattered. He was their u corn and ALL Republicans choose to live in a post-truth world where facts don’t matter. Trump is clearly accepting gifts and stealing money with his scam crypto and Republicans DONT CARE. This is who they are and it will always be.
  • Heesh4
    Ai reviews
    weird..
  • Cousin Isaac
    Best true crime podcast
    I’m only on season 3 but so far this is the best true crime podcast and possibly best podcast I’ve heard. The storytelling and follow up on the wider context is completely engrossing without sensationalizing. 5 stars.
  • Yostbomb
    Too many ads…
    Over 3 minutes of ads before the podcast even begins had me stopping before it even started.
  • EHunt222
    Great Podcast
    I don’t understand why every review on here complains about the ads? SUBSCRIBE OR HIT FAST FORWARD 30 seconds. The amount of time you took to write a negative review about ads is 10-fold what it would have taken you to hit that little fast forward button. I think Sarah’s admission is a continuation of her deception. If everything was rooted in her childhood trauma, and mental health, she wouldn’t have taken MONEY FROM PEOPLE!
  • cherylfoster.uri
    Due Diligence Divulges Deception
    Meticulous investigative reporting pays off in this riveting, psychologically astute Season Six profile of a cunning Stolen Valor criminal. Skilled mastery of case detail is fueled by expertise in the larger context of patterns among those who live fraudulent double lives. The resulting series strips away layer after layer of the insidiously intentional, intertwined lies of fabulist Sarah Cavanaugh, leaving us with the stark dishonor at the heart of her cruel manipulation. Brilliant storytelling, perfectly calibrated to the sonic format here - and cathartic for Veterans who have lived through this or similar stolen valor ruses.
  • Kml646
    Fascinating
    This is a great show on a troubling subject matter. Excellent journalism. I was pleasantly surprised and engrossed.
  • Tdubsters
    Great stuff
    The amount of work that Jake must have put into his research is insane
  • Spring7Boy
    A story about storytellers telling a story
    Meticulous interviews are fashioned to express, understandably of course, much more than the facts— we must hear in a truly heartfelt way how victims feel now, and how they felt then. Surrounding every interview we must also hear how the hosts felt before the interview and how they feel after the interview. The multi-episode narrative suspense— since we know what happened from the beginning— is how the hosts will finally feel about their feelings of applying well-practiced empathy, compassion, and altruism. You hear as much from the perpetrator and victims as you hear from the hosts themselves about their own experience in crafting this detailed show. Their pursuit to understand – – why? Why did she do it? Spoiler alert: at the end they are “baffled”. Like the victims, the hosts now have to live with the facts of what happened regardless of their understanding. Mental health problems are not the fault of the perpetrator, so the highly literate but stealthily smug hosts find themselves struggling with the same cognitive confusion that plagues absolutely everybody in society, who is trying to reconcile good and evil. Sorry, I mean good and bad. How can someone say something but then do something else? Something else that damages and deters the lives of innocent strangers in their sphere. We have the scenario set from the very first episode. All of the victims of this criminal, whether they were intimately, close or duped and dumped, reveal nothing particularly surprising. They emote and of course we feel compassion. What is most frustrating about this work is that it too much serves as an exercise to demonstrate the impressive professional prowess of the hosts that wrote and rode these people’s stories into their own.
  • BT2015
    Absolutely riveting!
    The rich texture of the writing and the amazing storytelling will have listeners spellbound. I could not put the podcast down and finished it within 24 hours of its original release. I think this would make a fascinating movie and I can’t wait to see if that happens! Bravo Jess, Jake and the entire team!
  • LivinInTheSwamp
    A riveting podcast — a remarkable work of art!
    In the conclusion of this tour de force, journalist/producer Jake Halpern notes that ”many of us, myself included, hold on to the perhaps naive hope of pure justice and clean endings, where the good guys win and righteousness prevails.” Yet, it is just such a hope of justice that motivates two investigators, starting with little more than a rumor, to patiently build a case that ends in a murder trial. Journalist/producer Jake Halpern and his brilliant team put us inside the car with the investigators as they approach the rural home of the man they believe is the accomplice to the murder. We are emotionally transported to join the investigators, the accomplice, the victim’s family, and others impacted by the murder. We are along for the ride in the highs and lows of this cold case investigation. I hope that Jake and his team continue their investigations – and give us the privilege of joining them in their remarkable work.
  • shauyanne1994
    Thrilling and Very Well Narrated.
    I loved this. Totally worth it.
  • allie87mallie
    Way too many ads
    Only got 19 minutes into the episode and there were already 3 ad breaks, one of which was almost 2-3 minutes. Unlistenable.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork on this page are property of the podcast owner, and not endorsed by UP.audio.