Infamous America - Introducing "American Hostage" from Wondery

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

In the series premiere, radio DJ Fred Heckman (Jon Hamm) receives an unexpected call from a listener who turns his life upside down. Follow “American Hostage” on Amazon Music. To hear all 8 episodes right now, go to; http://wondery.fm/IA_AmericanHostage Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, infamous America listeners, I've got a unique opportunity for you. If you love binging podcasts, and honestly, who doesn't? There's a new show out right now that's the perfect thing to binge because every episode leaves you hanging. It's called American Hostage, and it stars Emmy Award winner John Hamm, the actor who became famous as the star of Mad Men. American Hostage is a scripted fiction podcast, but it's based on a real-life true crime story. John Hamm stars as Fred Heckman, a radio reporter in Indianapolis in 1977, who gets forced into the middle of a life or death crisis when Tony Kyritsis takes a hostage at gunpoint and calls into Fred's news program and demands to be interviewed live on the air. Through the radio show, Tony gradually becomes a media sensation and an unexpected national hero during a 63-hour police standoff. Seriously, this is all true.

You can look it up. I'm about to play you a preview of American Hostage, but it comes with a warning. There's extreme adult language in the preview, so it's not suitable for younger audiences. And while you're listening, follow American Hostage wherever you get your podcasts. Or, as I said in the beginning,

you can binge the entire series right now on Amazon Music or Wondry Plus. The seven-second delay for live television was introduced in 1975 by NBC so that Richard Pryor could host Saturday, live without the network getting fined for all of his obscenities. The delay would also be useful we discovered if a man were to be shot point blank in the head live on national television.

Lieutenant Colin is there. Uh, no, sir. He's not on dispatch. Well, who you got there, who you got there, or ain't high enough to take this call. I can help you, sir. If you can tell me what you're calling. Yes, you stand up. Do you think I won't do it, you stupid son of a bitch?

Sir. All right. All right, I'm going to tell you now, and you're going to listen good, and I don't repeat myself, so you listen up now. You understand? Yes, I'm listening, sir. All right, I've done a thing, a real serious thing, the kind of thing you aren't used to hearing about, I bet.

I've taken a prisoner And I've got him here Wired shotgun valve strapped To the back of his head And this ain't no crank call You understand me Yes sir Yes sir, I understand

But you say you've got something wired up a shotgun I've got a real deal 12-gauge shotgun wired up to the back of his head And anything happens to me It goes off And if he moves it goes off And I got it so there's a hundred ways it goes off And only one way it don't

And that's keeping me alive and good You understand I understand And this ain't no crank call Yes sir This is not a crack call. I don't never have much for anyone to take. And these motherfuckers find some way to take it all.

And I'm mad as hell. I swear to God, he's almost as good as dead. He's never been closer to dead than he is right now. Can you please, uh, talk to me and lower the gun, please if you are. I am talking to you, sir, and I ain't lowering the gun. Can you tell me how many people you've got with you over there? I just got one. One's all I wanted.

Dick Hall is who I got. The son of a bitch. Sir. Sir. Now I'm a mad, mean, motherfucker maker lady. I understand. And I'm the real. Yes, sir, I understand the real deal.

And I'm sorry, I gotta bother you all like this, but it ain't right. Can you please tell me where you are? 129 Canton Street. Canton, you said? 129 Canton Street on the fourth floor in Dick Call's office. And I'm gonna tell you again the way you got this wired is, you kill me, you kill him. My hand goes back and my fingers go limp and he's eating shotgun shells out of the back of his head, I swear to God. I understand, sir.

We're gonna send over some of our fellas and see what we can do for it. We're gonna get this settled, baby. Well, please don't kill him. But we're sending police on their way. You're goddamn fucking right. Radio Indiana. W-I-B-C. Indianapolis.

For me, there are three tenets of journalism. One, don't make it personal. Two, don't pick a side. And three, don't become the story. I broke all three of those in the span of a single phone call. Follow American Hostage wherever you get your podcasts. Or you can binge all eight episodes right now

on Amazon Music or One. Plus.