The Good Samaritan

The train is coming. People on the platform hear it first. That low metallic roar echoing through the tunnel beneath Manhattan. Commuters shift closer to the yellow line. A father stands with his two young daughters waiting for the subway. Then chaos. A 19-year-old film student suddenly collapses beside him… convulsing from a seizure. In seconds, the young man tumbles off the platform and onto the...

On January 13, 1982, Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into Washington, D.C.’s 14th Street Bridge before plunging into the frozen Potomac River. Amid the wreckage, one man trapped in his seat gave up his own chance at survival, passing the rescue line again and again to save five strangers. This is the story of Arland D. Williams Jr. — remembered forever as “the man in the water.” Send us Fan Mail Sup...

Today on The Good Samaritan, we step into the red-clad frenzy of Kansas City’s 2024 Super Bowl victory parade, where joy exploded into tragedy with gunfire that killed one woman and wounded twenty-two others, including children. Amid the screams and confetti, two fathers—Paul Contreras and Trey Filter—charged through the panic, tackling a fleeing suspect and securing his dropped gun, their raw cou...

In the early hours of April 22, 2018, a gunman opened fire inside a crowded Waffle House outside Nashville, killing four people and injuring several others. Amid the chaos, 29-year-old James Shaw Jr. rushed the attacker, wrestling away the AR-15 rifle and forcing him to flee. Shaw’s split-second act of courage saved countless lives that night and turned him into a national symbol of bravery. This...

Today on The Good Samaritan, we journey to a chilly Queens night in 1964, where Kitty Genovese’s murder shocked the world and birthed a myth of 38 indifferent witnesses. We unravel the truth behind the headlines, exploring a woman’s courage that rewrote a true crime legacy. A content warning: this episode includes descriptions of violence and murder, which may be distressing. Listener discretion i...