From Valley of Shadows: The Devil's Punchbowl

From Valley of Shadows: The Devil's Punchbowl

Author: Pushkin Industries February 26, 2026 Duration: 47:11

Valley of Shadows is a new Pushkin true crime podcast that digs into a nearly 30-year old secret buried in the California desert. On June 11, 1998, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy Jon Aujay went for a run in California’s Devil’s Punchbowl park...and never came back. Nearly 30 years later, the mystery surrounding his disappearance has only deepened. Some say Aujay is just another missing hiker, claimed by the inhospitable landscape of the Southern California desert. Some say he took his own life out there. But there’s another theory that many of Aujay’s friends and LASD colleagues are convinced is true—that he was the victim of foul play, and that his own department is covering it up. Through exclusive interviews, revealing wiretaps, and buried police files, investigative reporters Hayley Fox and Betsy Shepherd uncover vestiges of the Wild West in a small California town, where outlaw biker gangs crank out methamphetamine and local cops operate on both sides of the law.

Find Valley of Shadows wherever you get podcasts.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.


Revisionist History is Malcolm Gladwell's journey through the overlooked and the misunderstood. Every episode re-examines something from the past—an event, a person, an idea, even a song—and asks whether we got it right the first time. From Pushkin Industries. Because sometimes the past deserves a second chance. To get early access to ad-free episodes and extra content, subscribe to Pushkin+ in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Revisionist History
Podcast Episodes
Acting Out [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:34
Malcolm talks with Ben Naddaff-Hafrey, host of The Last Archive, about the forgotten origins of a major social science, the missing chapter in Ella Fitzgerald’s life, and what it all has to do with the prison just down t…
A Good Circle [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:54
This season, Malcolm's covered a lot of the problems in higher education. Today on the show: A solution. A big idea being tested at a little school on the shores of Lake Michigan. A school called Hope College, believe it…
Feeling A Bit Attacked with Maria Konnikova [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:51
Maria Konnikova, Revisionist History’s ombudsman—who's also an author, psychologist and professional poker player—is back for another round. This time she reads letters from the audience on the power of debate, and wheth…
The Pushkin Prize for Egregiously Deceptive Self-Promotion [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:32
Consider this your invitation to the greatest award show no one’s ever heard of: the Pushkin Prizes, created to honor the giants of the American education system. This year, Malcolm is celebrating one prominent universit…
The Crisis in Girls’ Sports with Lauren Fleshman and Linda Flanagan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 55:33
In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm and his Martian friend consult athletes Linda Flanagan and Lauren Fleshman on how to level the proverbial playing field. What would they ban fro…
The Mystery of Mastery with Adam Gopnik [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:19
In a live conversation taped at the 92nd Street Y in New York City, Malcolm chats with his old friend and New Yorker magazine colleague, Adam Gopnik, about Adam’s latest book, The Real Work: On the Mystery of Mastery. In…
Malcolm Goes to Debate School [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:07
What do you do after you've been humiliated at the Munk Debates? You call in the A-Team. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Higher Animals with Michael Specter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:05
Malcolm talks with his old friend, the brilliant science writer Michael Specter, about the future of life on Earth. Michael's response to the Covid-19 pandemic was to create a new audiobook on how the mRNA vaccines have…

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