Chapters
Shownotes Transcript
Hi, it's Andrea Gunning, the host of Betrayal. I'm excited to announce that the Betrayal podcast is expanding. We are going to be releasing episodes weekly, every Thursday. Each week, you'll hear brand new stories, firsthand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and the trail of destruction left behind. Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI.
In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
Curious about queer sexuality, cruising, and expanding your horizons? Hit play on the sex-positive and deeply entertaining podcast Sniffy's Cruising Confessions. Join hosts Gabe Gonzalez and Chris Patterson Rosso as they explore queer sex, cruising, relationships, and culture in the new iHeart podcast, Sniffy's Cruising Confessions.
Previously on Number One Dad...
It may have been the greatest scam for a sports fan, posing as a Sports Illustrated kids reporter with your dad and getting into all of the games, not to mention the locker rooms. Well, as a kid, did you love it or would you get tired of it? Eventually, I got tired of it. My dad was a con man in everyday life. I love sports. He loved lying. Sully is very young, but let's say that he...
hears about all the stuff that you and your dad did, Madison Square Garden, meeting all these athletes. What if he wants to try it with you? What would you say? I would say that those were different times and that it's always best to be honest. And my role model wasn't the best role model. And I'm trying to be the best role model for you.
You didn't tell me a lot about your father for a long time. That's my wife, Allie. When we first started dating, I kept her in the dark about my relationship with my dad. He was kind of a really big mystery. I knew that your relationship with him was strained, that you didn't speak to him. But then, you know, when you told me a bunch of the different stories and stuff like that, I mean, it blew my mind, honestly. It was obvious that it had impacted your life.
Manny Veeder, my father, was a full-blooded con man who never told the truth about anything, ever. As a teenager, I couldn't stand the way he was. So 24 years ago, I cut him out of my life, completely. We didn't speak, no emails or texts. I didn't want anything to do with him.
But I just had a son of my own, which brought up a ton of old memories of my childhood and made me wonder, where is my dad now? You better hope that your dad doesn't find out about this before you're ready to talk to him. What do you think he would do if he finds out? I mean, based off of everything you've told me, he would probably sue everybody involved. This is Number One Dad. Number One Dad.
Gary, what's up, man? Hey, buddy. That's my producer, Adam Lowitt. I've known him for a while. We met back when I was an intern at The Daily Show in 2006 when he was working there. I used to have to get him coffee and bagels every morning. He's incredibly talented. I owe him big time for being a part of this, and frankly, I couldn't do it without him. He also wrote this intro.
So I did some investigating and I basically, I mean, as far as investigating goes, it's nothing crazy. I searched him on Google and I was able to find out that he's been a defendant or plaintiff in 23 court cases since 1984. That's just too good.
I mean, maybe there's even more. This is just from a Google search. But some of the cases that came up, he sued Hershey Park, claiming he broke a rib on one of their rides. He did a slip and fall at our hometown movie theater and then took them to court. And he also sued Geico a bunch for what I presume are all false insurance claims. I also unblocked him on Facebook. And I
I couldn't see anything other than his friend list and his profile pic. But his profile pic is of him and Joe Biden.
And how he did that, how he met Joe Biden, that I don't know. But were they at Madison Square Garden? No. And that's the other thing. I assume he didn't meet him legitimately. But like, how are you meeting the president under, you know, non-legitimate terms? Oh, my God. It's so fascinating. But this is the thing. This is how I grew up. But so far, this is all I was able to find. So you're saying your dad doesn't have an OnlyFans page? Right.
That would be nice. And that would make this podcast much easier, too, if we just paid the $3 monthly fee. Right. And I know you said you're going to go talk to your mom soon and ask her to be on the podcast. So that's the thing. I have shows this weekend, and I'm going to be traveling, so I can't do it until early next week. I'm going to bring Allie with me when I get there.
when I go meet her, so that should hopefully... - So she can take the hit. - Yeah, exactly. I think my mom will be open to talking if Ali's there. That's like my best shot. - Right. - And I'm also gonna bring Sullivan along too. And I know I'm pulling the same kind of moves, bringing Sully along the same way my dad would bring me along to soften people up. But I feel our situations are pretty different and it also worked.
My father was the ultimate shyster who was a master at manipulating the court system. He was so confident in his knowledge of law that he even represented himself in the divorce between him and my mom. He was always one step ahead of my mother's legal representation. He knew how to delay the proceedings, costing my mother thousands of dollars in attorney's fees. Their divorce started when I was 15 years old and dragged on for 10 years. And in the end, my father took everything, including my childhood home.
Their divorce was finalized in 2005. That is literally the last time my mom and I said his name out loud to each other. And in a few days, I'm going to go to her house to ask her to break the silence.
How are you feeling about everything? I mean, this, obviously this whole thing is very heavy and just, I mean, I haven't talked about my dad ever to her and just even me talking out loud, you know, and, and to, you know, to you and to be doing this publicly is a lot.
Talking about my father and eventually seeking him out is going to bring up a lot of emotions that I buried a long time ago. So I thought it'd be best to sit down with my therapist, Babita Spinelli, who also happened to help my wife, Allie, and I when we did couples counseling a few years back.
I really want to honor that you're coming in to do this individual work. I recall in couples work, it was sort of difficult to talk about your dad and your family history with your dad. I talked to Allie about it and I said that I'm going to go back to Babita and talk to her about my dad. It's so weird for me to even say my dad because it's like I normally refer to him, I call him Manny. I call him by his first name. I do recall how hard it was.
for you to speak about your dad. It was hard to even bring him in as someone that had been somewhat part of your life. One of the things that made me stop caring about my father was the way that he treated my mom. Is she aware, Gary, that you're thinking of, you know, maybe meeting your father? She doesn't know. So I have to, that's another thing that I have to talk to her. And that's, you know, that's a, it's a tough thing to bring up.
My dad. So you need to be prepared of her reaction. When I was a teenager, the arguments between my parents became an everyday occurrence. My father's constant schemes and court cases began to take its toll on my family, and bills were piling up. My mom told my dad she wanted a divorce, and that's when things got really bad.
To make matters worse, my father put me in the middle of it. Gary, it sounds like you had to find ways to survive at a young age. Yeah. You know, if I asked him for lunch money in high school, he would say, ask your mom, even though lunch is $1.55. So then I'd ask her and then she wasn't working. She was a stay-at-home mom. So she only had money that my father would give her.
which was in a good situation to be in when they obviously are having problems and he stopped giving her money. So him telling me to ask my mom, who he knows doesn't have any money or maybe only has a few dollars, winds up being like, well, why, if you have the money, why can't you just get, why am I in the middle of this? And then eventually I just started photocopying dollar bills so I could give that to the lunch lady. And then my dad found out about that. And then
Instead of giving me money, he just started helping me photocopy dollar bills to make them look more realistic. You photocopied dollar bills, right? For lunch money. What I'm noticing, Gary, is that your dad didn't just model these questionable behaviors, but he encouraged it. However, I do think of things that he did that was great, too. And that's kind of what brings me here is that, you know, I don't know if it was all bad.
You're about to enter into a pretty intense journey. Are you afraid at all about how things are going to turn out? I mean, yeah, I'm afraid. I'm going to be talking to a whole bunch of different people that are from my past and my dad's past. And there's a chance that somebody may reach out to him before I'm even ready to talk to him.
And, you know, there's also, like, if I open the door to him, there's a chance that he hurts me and my family all over again. Back in 1969, this was the hottest song around. So hot that some guys from Michigan tried to steal it. My name is Daniel Ralston.
For 10 years, I've been obsessed with one of the most bizarre and audacious cons in rock and roll history. A group would have a hit record, and quickly they would hire a bunch of guys to go out and be the group. People were being cheated on several levels. After years of searching, we bring you The True Story of the Fake Zombies. I was like blown away. These guys are not going to get away with it. Listen to The True Story of the Fake Zombies on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
From the writer of Amazon Prime's Red, White, and Royal Blue comes a hilarious and demented new audio mystery. Does this murder make me look gay? Master Vandy is dead! Then it's probable that whoever killed Vandy is in this very room. Lock her up. Lock her up. You killed your daddy. You don't get anything fizzy. 911, what's your emergency? I'm in the Monroe estate and I just caught a murderer.
Yes, I'll hold. Featuring the star-studded talents of Michael Urie, Jonathan Freeman, Douglas Sills, Cheyenne Jackson, Robin DeJesus, Frankie Grande, Sean Patrick Doyle, Brad Oscar, Nathan Lee Graham, Seth Rudetsky, Leah Delaria, Lea Salonga, and Kate McKinnon as Angela Lansfairi.
On September 17th, 2009, 24-year-old Mitrice Richardson was released from the Malibu Lost Hill Sheriff's Station.
She had no money, no phone, and no ride. She walked out of the station and into the night. And she never made it home. Nearly a year later, Mitrice's naked, skeletonized remains were discovered in a canyon six miles from the station. I'm Dana Goodyear. Five years ago, I started reporting on the Mitrice-Richardson case.
Everyone knows something horrible happened to Mitrice. Nothing about her case makes sense. And for 15 years, the Sheriff's Department has failed to solve it. In Lost Hills, Dark Canyon, we're investigating what happened to Mitrice Richardson. Listen to Lost Hills, Dark Canyon on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
As a comic, I'm on the road all the time. And right now, I'm traveling with comedian Sam Morrell. Sam is one of the funniest people and one of my close friends. We have a lot in common, too. Aside from being comedians, we both have strained relationships with our biological fathers.
It's funny, I've knew you for years before I knew this stuff, so I was like, oh, Gary's like a normal guy, but everyone's got their thing. Yeah, when I started doing stand-up, because of my relationship with my father and how I didn't want to have my last name mentioned
become anything, Vitor, I went as Gary Roy, basically because of Rodney Dangerfield was Jack Roy. So I was like, oh, Gary Roy. Yeah. For like the first six months. And I was just like, let me try and build something and stand up under this, you know, pseudonym. And I, it was just so whenever somebody would bring me up, it just didn't, it didn't feel right. Yeah. So, I mean, one of the things that I don't do and yeah,
you do is I don't talk about my dad at all in my act it's unusual because you actually for a joke guy are pretty autobiographical a lot of joke people who do the misdirect style that you do are
It's like all lies, but you're very honest in your act. Yeah, I really do hate my wife. But you avoid that. But you do avoid that. I avoid it, and part of my thinking, I don't want to give my dad any credit. I don't want him to think that I came up with a joke
for him and that I'm thinking about him. It's for you at the end. To me, that says that you have anger toward him, and you should. The fact that you don't want to give him anything, right? But, I mean, you're making this podcast. For me, early bits were like, you know, people would say, you know, is your biological father a good dad? And I'd be like, if he were, I probably wouldn't refer to him as my biological father. Love that joke. Yeah, they were quick laughs. It's funny, I showed Ali a picture of him once, and she...
She was like, you look like him. And I was like, it makes me so upset. How do you feel about looking like someone that you don't like? I know, it's tough. I mean, I wish I looked like, you know, Bradley Cooper. I wish that was the case. I didn't really feel like I had an incredibly fulfilling childhood. My parents were constantly fighting to a point where they weren't physically fighting, but it was crazy fighting.
that would constantly go on where cops would get called by either my mom or my dad. Damn. And it's pretty embarrassing when you're a kid living in a pretty, like, nice house and cops would call you
Cops would just be outside. And, you know, I have friends in the neighborhood where the next day at school, they'd be like, so why were cops outside? And you kind of just curl into a ball where you're just like, oh, it was just had like a little health scare in the house. Just trying to make up anything, not knowing if they buy it or not. I would be so embarrassed. I wouldn't even have friends come over. My entire high school life, I didn't have friends come over my house. I was too embarrassed because I didn't know what was going to happen between my parents. Damn. Damn.
By the spring of my sophomore year of high school, I knew there was no way I was going to be able to make it another two years living under the same roof as my parents. Both my sisters had left for college, and I was all alone. It was just me and my dog, Kobe. I knew some kids through playing hockey that went to a private boarding school in Massachusetts, and I saw this as my way out. So I filled out all the paperwork, and in a surprise joint decision, my parents both agreed to send me away.
You know, most teenagers would be upset if they were sent to boarding school. I, on the other hand, was glad to go.
Did you blame either your parents or did you like, they're just both, they can't get it together? Well, I was blaming my dad and like, I was really, you know, when I was saying I had a bad childhood, it's tough because my, my childhood is what also shaped me to be who I am. So I appreciate that. I mean, you have to appreciate your experiences, I think, and look at the positive things that have come from it. So at the time I was definitely angry, uh,
more angry at my dad than my mom. It seemed... My dad was really mistreating my mom and I didn't understand why. And he would talk to me about it and he'd be like, when you get older, you'll understand. Well, it's like, I'm older and I still don't understand making a whole podcast to try and figure this shit out. Yeah. Was he a charming guy, though? Yeah, he would get things out of people that...
that, you know, you'd be surprised. He'd be able to pull off anything. I mean, you know the sports stories that he was able to do, and then he has some other con stuff that I've heard stories about that I'm going to ask other family members. Were you ever worried for safety? I mean, this is like kind of sketchy stuff. I blocked it out for so long, but as a kid, people were constantly showing up at our house pissed at my father, yelling at him on our front lawn, and it was always about money.
I remember one instance when a man dressed in a suit rang the doorbell like 50 times in a row. My dad told my family to be quiet and not answer the door. Then this guy walks around to the back of our house and starts looking through our windows. He was relentless because then he just sat in his car waiting in our driveway. A little while later, realizing he wasn't leaving, my dad took off all his clothes and walked out in nothing but a towel.
apologizing that he'd just gotten out of the shower and hadn't heard the doorbell. He then handed the guy an envelope full of cash. Do you ask your mom ever about this? No, we wouldn't talk about it. To this day...
I have not talked to my mom about my father in 24 years. Wow. Yeah. I haven't mentioned him. She has no idea I'm doing this podcast yet. I'm going to her house with Allie as soon as we get off the road. I'm going to ask her if she'll be on it. Damn. I have no idea.
I have no idea what she'll say. It'd be great if at the end of this podcast your dad just like charms you today, he cons you, and you're just another victim of this. You're like, it's possible. At the end you're like, it turns out he was a great guy and I was wrong. Yeah. I mean, I'm opening up Pandora's box by letting him into my life. For sure.
It's so crazy to think about my parents being married. I have zero memories of them being happy together or even liking each other. But I know it happened because I found this old tape of them on vacation. Hi honey. Hi. What do you want to give this lovely little kid?
What kind of fun time we're having? We're having a great time. Too bad you couldn't make it. That's them in the Cayman Islands. But even my parents' vacation was rooted in one of my father's lies. The only way they were able to go was because my dad entered a contest in the early 90s on Fox 5's Good Day New York. They were looking for someone with the worst first date story, and the winner got a free trip to the Caribbean.
This was a walk in the park for my father. He went on live TV where his completely fabricated story beat out three other contestants. We really miss you kids. We really do. Yeah. Mommy, you miss Gary? Oh, I miss Gary. I miss Gary. You really do think that you should practice? I don't know. Because your tone with your mother is terrible.
You can't be nasty while you're asking her for a favor. I'm not going to be nasty. It's not asking her a favor. You are asking her for a favor. So here I am, driving to my mom's house with Allie and our son Sullivan to ask if she'll be on the podcast.
When is the last time that you spoke about your father with your mother? When? Seriously, when? Never. We've been together 10 years and I have not once heard your mom mention your dad ever. Like ever. Even when she talks about like you as a baby or your childhood or anything like that. I've never once heard her mention him. Yeah, she's not a big fan. I don't know if you know. Obviously she's not. Meaning that has not been a topic of conversation in 10 years. And you can't even have a conversation with her about like egg salad ever.
I mean, honestly, I think your mother is going to be so taken aback. Yeah. I mean, what are you going to say? I am going to say that I am doing a podcast and I'm doing it. Okay, what is it about? Well, I'm going to get to that. I want to say I'm doing a podcast. It's about my childhood, but it's mainly about my relationship with my father and my
I'm interviewing different people, people that know him, and you know him, don't you, Mel? So, say something like that. Yeah, I might need your help on this. - You need me to put, buy two cents in? - Just here and there. - Oh my God. - You're gonna be there when I'm saying it. - I know, and I'm like so uncomfortable about it. - You ready? - Yep, as ready as I'll ever be. - All right, Sully.
Despite all my preparation, I was still nervous about bringing up my father to my mom. I kept waiting for the perfect moment, but there is never a right time to bring up the man who made her life hell. So as we sat down for lunch, I decided it was now or never. So I have something to tell you. It's good news. I sold the podcast to iHeartRadio.
But there is a catch. It's about my father. That sound you heard was my mom's fork literally dropping out of her hand. Well, that didn't go as I'd hoped. That was really intense. My heart breaks for your mom. It's the first time I've ever seen you and your mom cry together, which was like pretty nuts.
I think you need to understand her hesitation, obviously, because your father hasn't gone after you the past 20 years, you know? I went in there. I wanted to ask her to help me. Yeah, but in helping you. I mean, I blocked out a lot of those things. I realized that her experience, although my experience was also bad, she had it even, you know, she had it the worst. And
You know, I mean, the fact that she was even talking to me about the things that we never talked about before was, I mean, that was amazing. Your mother clawed her way out of an unbelievably impossible situation. The potential for there to be any repercussions on her negatively, of course, why would your mother want to do that? He made her life a living hell. And right now, he's not anywhere, has nothing to do with her life whatsoever.
Yeah, but... This would open up the door, even if she doesn't say anything bad, like any of the bad stuff, which, you know, would obviously give him more reason to come after her. But I get just mentioning his name... I get what you're looking for, the origin story, anything like that, but I think her fear is that if he even hears her speaking his name, it's ammunition. Right. I don't know what I'm going to do.
You're going to keep going. I mean, her not saying anything from the woman who would do anything for you, which I believe your mother would in a heartbeat, speaks volumes. It validates it even more. You know, I was not expecting you to cry. I feel closer to your mother. But that also must have been really hard for you. Like you were crying with your mom. When's the last time your mom saw you cry? Exactly. Because you buried a lot of this stuff. Yeah.
You're gonna cry again? It's okay. Babita! Babita, we need an emergency session. The thing is, I'm not gonna be able to control him. As much as I remember him being a piece of garbage in my childhood, I...
I wish, you know, I wish it was just like the Sports Illustrated story. But it's not. You can twist like the Sports Illustrated stuff. You can play with a lot of the things that happen to shed a positive light on them. It's impossible to shed a positive light on any of your mom's experiences. That's the problem. And even if she's talking about their first date and stuff like that, it's still mentioning him. Listen, we're doing this. We're in this and I'm with you till the freaking end.
But I think you saying, and you are very smart, but you can, what you just said, you cannot control him, I think is right. Don't underestimate the power of what could happen. On the next episode of Number One Dad.
So what do you think is the hardest part about having a con man for a father? It was a domino effect of one lie after another led to our family really just falling apart. Maybe I was naive at the time, but he knew how to do certain things. He knew how to manipulate people. He had met Obama, but the way he would explain it was that, you know, he had a tight relationship with him. ♪
Number One Dad is a production of Radio Point, Big Money Players Network, and iHeart Podcast. Created and hosted by Gary Veeder. Executive producers are Gary Veeder, Adam Lowett, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell, Houston Snyder, Kenneth Slotnick, and Brian Stern.
Written by Gary Beter and Adam Lowit. Produced by Bernie Kaminsky. Co-producer is Taylor Kowalski. Edited and mixed by Ian Sorrentino at Little Bear Audio. Recording engineer is Kat Iosa. Original music by Andrew Gross. Special thanks to Charlotte DeAnda.
Jonathan Karsh is creative consultant. Executive producers for Big Money Players Network and iHeart Podcast are Will Ferrell, Hans Sani, and Olivia Aguilar. Sound services were provided by Great City Post.
Does money stress you out? Let Facet flip your financial chaos into clarity. We feel way more confident and secure in our finances. And with that comes a sense of freedom. Financial planning from Facet is here to help you improve your life today, tomorrow, and every day after that. Facet was really the place where we saw all of the tools and the people coming together. Visit facet.com, F-A-C-E-T.com to learn more. This ad is sponsored by Facet. Facet Wealth is an SEC registered investment advisor. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities, nor is it investment, legal, or tax advice. These testimonials are from current Facet members who are not competent.
Hi, it's Andrea Gunning, the host of Betrayal. I'm excited to announce that the Betrayal podcast is expanding. We are going to be releasing episodes weekly, every Thursday. Each week, you'll hear brand new stories, firsthand accounts of shocking deception, broken trust, and the trail of destruction left behind. Listen to Betrayal Weekly on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.
I'm John Walczak, host of the new podcast Missing in Arizona. And I'm Robert Fisher, one of the most wanted men in the world. We cloned his voice using AI.
In 2001, police say I killed my family and rigged my house to explode before escaping into the wilderness. Police believe he is alive and hiding somewhere. Join me. I'm going down in the cave. As I track down clues. I'm going to call the police and have you removed. Hunting. One of the most dangerous fugitives in the world. Robert Fisher. Do you recognize my voice? Listen to Missing in Arizona every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite shows.
