*By Max Godnick* Why did Dave Chappelle walk away from a $50 million contract and move to Africa? Why do music superstars keep dying at age 27? And did anyone ever get to the bottom of the [Balloon Boy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ8i8coWGyc) hoax? Documentarian Andrew Jenks's podcast, "What Really Happened?" is returning for a second season to answer those questions and more of pop culture's most confounding mysteries. The show's first season focused on other bizarre events like Chris Christie's [Bridgegate](https://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/christie-bridge-scandal/bridgegate-scandal-ex-christie-allies-bill-baroni-bridget-kelly-get-n739941) scandal, Michael Jordan's early retirement, and Britney Spears's very-public breakdown and head-shaving incident in 2007. "I'm trying to tell the best campfire story that I can," Jenks said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar. The filmmaker gained fame as host of MTV's "World of Jenks" and as the director of a handful of ESPN documentaries, including "The Zen of Bobby V" and the 30 for 30 short "Posterized." He said the idea for his podcast came while he developed a documentary about Muhammad Ali reportedly talking a man out of suicide in 1981. That film never came to fruition, but the strong idea caught the attention of Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson and his production company Seven Bucks. "The Rock likes things big," Jenks said, noting that it was Johnson who suggested the idea might work best in a podcast format. "You don't say no to what The Rock thinks." The idea proved to be a hit, and eventually the show landed at #1 on the Apple Podcast charts. In the second season premiere, Jenks explores the rationale behind Venus Williams [forfeiting](https://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/18/sports/tennis-serena-williams-wins-as-the-boos-pour-down.html) a 2001 match against her sister Serena just four minutes before it was scheduled to take place. The incident caused some to speculate that the pair's father Richard orchestrated the whole thing to manipulate the results of the tournament. "It's B.S.," Jenks said of the conspiracy theory. "She was injured." Another episode unpacks the sudden [hearing issues](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/01/science/sonic-attack-cuba-microwave.html) that American diplomats stationed in Cuba began experiencing in 2016. Commonly described as "sonic attacks," the phenomenon led to the medical examination of 21 U.S. officials and prompted Jenks to interview neurologists, members of the CIA, the Cuban Ambassador, and acoustic weapons experts. "A 'sonic attack' is a fabricated, made-up term that scientists have historically always dismissed," he said. Jenks would not reveal what (or who) he believes to be the true culprit ー but he did offer a clue. "When it smells and kind of acts and looks like Vladimir Putin, a lot of the time, it is Vladimir Putin." For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/andrew-jenks-solves-worlds-greatest-pop-culture-mysteries).

Share:
More In Culture
U.S. Cities With the Best Work-Life Balance; Building Incentives for Employee Retention
This episode of On The Job presented by ADP: Cheddar takes a deep dive into how offices in Silicon Valley are handling return-to-office policies with Jesse Levinson, Cofounder and CTO of Zoox; Bob Lockett, Chief Diversity & Talent Officer at ADP breaks down the importance of flexibility at work and how to approach compensation in order to improve retention; Pamela Rucker, CIO Advisor and Instructor for Harvard Professional Development, explains how A.I. can play a role in sustainability efforts and what business leaders need to know about ESG.
Jeremy Kim & Wootak Kim of ‘Under the Influence’ on Platforming Asian Americans
Jeremy Kim and Wootak Kim, content creators and the stars of the ‘Under the Influence’ podcast and YouTube series, joined Cheddar News to talk about using their platform to help other Asian American creators. "When we were kind of like coming up with the show idea, there's like so many other people that we really respect or look up to or that interesting stories that will never get the chance to be seen by anybody else," said Jeremy Kim. "And so that's the kind of the platform that we wanted to create."
Play Pits CEO on Creating Natural Hygiene Products for Kids
Chantel Powell, Co-Founder and CEO of Play Pits, joins Cheddar News to discuss how she's grown her business from making it in her very own home to being sold on the shelves in Target stores across the nation, and break down how her business remained resilient throughout the pandemic.
Jill Zarin and Ally Shapiro Talk New Crystal Manifestation Candles, 'Ultimate Girls Trip'
Coming off of their face masks endeavor, Jill Zarin of "The Real Housewives of New York City," and her daughter Ally Shapiro, CMO of JIll & Ally, join Cheddar News to discuss their latest product: crystal manifestation candles. "We have tigers eye, we have amethyst, we have lapis, and alone those could be almost the price of the candle," said Zarin. "We were really able to do it in an affordable way, and if you don't know how to manifest or what that even means, we do it for you on the candle." Zarin also dished on the new season of "Real Housewives Ultimate Girls Trip."
Load More