In Evangelical homes across the United States, sex outside of marriage is a sin against God. So, when Abbi becomes pregnant at 16, her devout parents hide her away at the Liberty Godparent Home, a little-known facility for pregnant teens on the campus of Liberty University. The Home says it helps girls decide what comes next – whether that’s parenting their babies or placing them for adoption. But inside the facility, the girls hear a different message: God wants their babies to go to more “deserving” Christian couples. Some girls will find the strength to fight back. Others will have no choice but to give in. And some, like Abbi, will turn their grief into resistance – and take a stand against the system before more mothers lose their children to adoptions they never wanted.

From Wondery, host and reporter T. J. Raphael tells a startling true story of young love, coercion, and defiance – and the dangerous resurgence of maternity homes in post-Roe America.

Listen to Liberty Lost: Wondery.fm/LibertyLost_

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Polish immigrant Hershel Geguzin fled to the U.S. from the faltering Russian Empire at the turn of the 20th century. And like many scammers around this time, he adopts a fabulous new identity: as Prince Michael Romanoff, the last living member of the former Russian ruling family. Everyone knows the new prince is lying about his royal heritage, but he’s such a good hang, he floats from party to party across the U.S. and Europe for decades. In the end, Prince Michael sets up shop in Hollywood, hosting mega-stars from Humphrey Bogart to Frank Sinatra. Prince Michael’s story is the ultimate lesson in faking it until you make it.

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Rocky Aoki, the son of a vaudeville performer and a tango dancer, grows up in the wreckage of post-war Tokyo. With his natural flair for entertainment, he opens his first Benihana restaurant in Manhattan, making sure to entertain his customers via knife-wielding chefs. Rocky builds his business up throughout the 80s, stopping at nothing to make his restaurant empire bullet-proof, but he ends up almost bringing the ship down after having several affairs, a secret family, and a conviction for insider trading. To this day his kids and his widow, Keiko Aoki, are still battling it out over the Benihana trust and its flashy legacy.

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