BONUS EPISODE: Gary Brooks Faulkner and the One Man Mission to Hunt Osama Bin Laden
Gary Brooks Faulkner was a drug addict, ex-con, and born-again Christian who decided he had been given a mission from god to travel to Pakistan and assassinate Osama Bin Laden. What followed is a story so strange that it is a minor miracle nobody got killed.
Sources:
https://www.laweekly.com/bin-laden-hunter-born-in-l-a-went-crazy-in-colorado/
https://valdostadailytimes.com/2010/06/16/colo-man-went-on-solo-mission-to-kill-bin-laden/
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/nicolas-cage-star-osama-bin-765597/
https://www.gq.com/story/gary-faulkner-hunts-osama-bin-laden
https://www.wired.com/2011/12/gary-brooks-faulkner-jail/
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-american-idUKTRE65E1GE20100615/
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/08/gary-brooks-faulkner-bin-laden/
Comments (65)
The improve songs have definitely made this one of my favorite episodes
Honestly a little surprised that Greeley is where this went down. It reeks of Colorado Springs. Maybe Monument.
Isn’t Greeley the same town that radicalized Sayyid Qutb
The Gary's of the Gas Stations is all too real. Its weird to hear Sheetz called out as i started listening to this show after I started working for them and the show and Sheetz is still consistent in my life but fuck ive met too many Garys
This was honestly such a great episode! Joe did well to balance research, humour and compassion (as per usual) and Nate... Never change, man! Absolutely loved the Bob Seger bit(s.) Obviously you've worked together for a long time now, but I think the chemistry really shone through on this episode for some reason. This and the Kagera War are two different examples of LLBD at the top of their game. A great start to 2026!
"Dialysis machine lootbox" is the next Silicon Valley scam after AI
Most bass boats are around 21 feet long. A windy day on one of the Great Lakes will sink it. Obviously a 21 foot boat would struggle in the ocean.
Happy Together and in the mood for love are phenomenal films
Nate discovers Flying Nun Records! Yay!
ol scotty’s practice is 20 mins from me. and yes. colorado is just full of these dudes
Joe
I now need a Colorado Ronin shirt
Nate’s Bob Seger bit might rival Robert Matthews Mickey Mouse as his best bit on the show in recent months
Scarface and Metalocalypse jumpscare
The thing is, having lived there, Greeley CO just makes you like this
Seconded
Was the QVC knife show the one where the host broke a tip and almost bled out? Internet 1.0?
I just watched that. Thank you. I must be so twisted because I thought it was hilarious
Yeah dialysis sucks (both haemo and peritoneal). My ex had end-stage renal failure and was on haemodyalisis for the last 7+ years of his life.
Look, if hard drugs are so bad for you, then why do so many cops do them
Gary is the most American man that has ever been.
Why don’t he try to do a 9/11 on Bin Lanen
Nate's version of Bob Seger songs are gonna live rent free in my head for a long time
47:21 if you want to go back and relive it
god, this guy reminds me of my uncle. Joe is right we all know this guy
Wow! Nate said a band I’ve heard of!
I’m picturing Gary diving off the World Trade Center to attack the plane like Matthew McConaughey at the end of Reign of Fire.
Speaking as Pakistani : no, people in the country don’t routinely carry katanas
be the change you want to see in the world
Red rising is awesome, can’t wait for the 7th book.
Greeley is kinda known as an eternally shit-stinking cowtown. It’s a pretty predictable outcome for someone moving there.
Damn, it really is true what they say; you either die in a crack-fuelled katana duel with Bin Laden, or live long enough to see yourself become a Landlord.
Greeley sounds like exactly the part of Colorado that would produce this dude
This guy is somehow crazier than the Gary from vault 108. He is the one true Gary.
Better to buy this guy a sword rather than a gun, decent brothering IMO.
This all tracks for Greeley...
It’s not a lot, but it’s weird it happened twice…
To borrow a phrase from former host Liam, this guy can be scientifically described as coo-coo-bananas.
His brother is a HEART SURGEON!!!!
Jawbreaker is a great band. Also Dag Nasty as well.
So without diagnosing, sounds like he has some kind of psychotic disorder. I’m guessing the brother doesn’t want to get targeted by his brother and becoming part of a delusional system, since the delusions are somewhat persecutory in grandiose at the same time; and yes, this is a guy that’s pretty common in Colorado.
I've known people with similar circumstances/behavior and yeah a lot of the time the grandiosity prevents them from being able to consider that maybe they should have a chat with a psychiatrist. In some cases they did eventually get a diagnosis, although staying on the meds is also a struggle, which is kinda fair cause the side effects usually suck.
This episode has got to be one of Nate’s best. His Bob Seger songs are perfection. I needed a laugh and Nate delivered in spades!!!! Thank you!
Lmao Nate 2026 jokes mvp
Ah, good ol' Methford.
Gary was living out his mad The Man Who Would Be King fantasies.
The American Otto Skorzeny Lilienthal.
Greeley explains SOOO much of this.
The fact that this guy didn't die is possibly evidence that God does exist. But more a Greek God than the Christian God, who's keeping Gary alive because Gary is entertaining.
Hermes is like, "No, Dad, don't let Ares get him, let's see where this goes."
Hey Joe, since you’ve found yourself getting into fantasy more lately and allready know warhammer 40k stuff then you should check out the Gotrek and Felix books!
This is the most American man that has ever lived, in all the worst ways.
White trash rough rider of the new century.
As someone from Colorado, I'm not sure how accurate this man's life is to the average Greeley expirence, but it doesn't surprise me.
I would imagine there are people who have had their lives improved in certain ways by drug use, to the extent that there are efforts to move LSD and Ketamine from Class 1 to Class 2 for treatment resistant mental disorders. But like, I'd also imagine there are ways that drug use (especially in the context of criminalization and the necessary covert use that accompanies it) fucks uo your life in different ways as well.
Key to anything is moderation. I know a guy who met his now wife and mother of his 2 children at a rave. They were both on K and MDMA. Even now they still will rave once inawhile and party as well. Meanwhile another person I know never even smoked weed, didn't drink, heavily into working out and MMA. Injured his back badly during a competition and now his pain is so excruciating that he needs to take prescription pain killers to manage. Point is you can try anything as long as you do it in moderation. There are many things out there that can fuck up your life more than drugs ever will but so can drugs. It's good to experiment but always set boundaries.
Tactical meth-head division
This is the kind of guy any professional user of violence knows to keep at arm’s length unless you’re just going to shoot him from ambush immediately, because even though he’s completely incompetent and crazy, he might just do the one thing you weren’t expecting and have no defense against. It’s safer to leave him at a safe distance than risk getting one-shotted by the crackhead.
NEXT ON CBS: OPERATION NIGHT MOVES: ONE MAN'S HUNT FOR BIN LADEN
Sleepy Nate coming alive with those Bob Seger riffs, nearly breaking Joe in the process.
we recorded it during the holidays and i was very tired that morning (toddler at home) but somehow that made things click
I'm imagining Gary hitch hiking and partying in Vegas with Tony Montana and Piccolo.
Let's get this mother Faulkner
Listen, the 21st Century Methhead Man Project is essential for our nations national security.
FUN EP, FUN EP, FUN EP! (I think..?)