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New Documentary Podcast Series Unravels the Shadowy Past Behind the Creator of Willy Wonka, Matilda and The BFG

Series Premieres Monday, January 19, 2026

Listen to the Trailer Now

NEW YORK – January 16, 2026 – iHeartPodcasts, the No. 1 podcast publisher globally according to , and Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, today announced the launch of “,” a gripping new documentary podcast that peels back the secret spy life and shadowed past of one of the most famous children’s authors of all time to reveal a life far stranger than fiction. This is the sixth title to be released from Imagine Entertainment and ����������Ƶ’s slate of original iHeartPodcasts. Listen to the trailer of “The Secret World of Roald Dahl” now . 

Premiering Monday, January 19, 2026, the series explores the extraordinary hidden life of Roald Dahl, examining how a former fighter pilot, British intelligence operative, struggling Hollywood screenwriter and unlikely medical innovator became one of the most successful children’s authors in history — and how his covert past shaped the stories generations of readers grew up loving.

Best known as the creator of Willy Wonka, Matilda and The BFG, “The Secret World of Roald Dahl” uncovers the hidden chapters rarely discussed: his time as a spy for MI6, his personal relationships, creative failures and experiences that complicate his legacy. It’s a dark, twisty and deeply fascinating true story that asks how much of an artist’s inner life finds its way into their work.

Created and hosted by Aaron Tracy, the series blends investigative storytelling with rich narrative detail to paint a complex portrait of a cultural icon whose life was as unsettling as it was remarkable.

"Roald Dahl played a huge role in our childhoods, but most people have no idea he lived one of the noisiest lives of his century,” said Tracy. “He was a fighter pilot, a British spy for MI6, a struggling screenwriter, the husband of an Oscar-winner, a writer for The New Yorker, and an amateur neuroscientist who saved thousands of lives before he finally found his voice as a children's author at 45. iHeart and Imagine have been dream collaborators to help reveal these hidden chapters of Dahl's life and explore the complicated, controversial person behind the stories."

"We all grew up on Roald Dahl's books over here, and the opportunity to work with Aaron Tracy in the podcast space to dig into Dahl's life was just too good to be true,” said Nathan Kloke, Executive Producer for Imagine Audio. “Aaron connects with Dahl across his work, his humanity and his flaws. It is a wonderful piece of work from a very talented documentarian.”

“Many people know Roald Dahl as the creator of Willy Wonka, Matilda and the BFG, but most do not know he was also a spy,” said Will Pearson, President of iHeartPodcasts. "’The Secret World of Roald Dahl’ is a compelling example of the kind of premium storytelling we’re focused on—revealing a wild journey through the hidden chapters of a fascinating life.”

“The Secret World of Roald Dahl” is part of a growing slate of documentary podcasts from iHeartPodcasts and Imagine Entertainment, including “Hello Isaac,” “Unf**cking the Future,” “Big Sugar,” “The Tao of Muhammad Ali” and “Obscurum,” which explore iconic figures and untold stories through deep reporting and cinematic storytelling.  Another new series from the collaboration will be announced soon.

Kara Welker and Nathan Kloke are Executive Producers for Imagine Audio.

“” is distributed by iHeartPodcasts and will be available weekly on Mondays on the iHeartRadio app and everywhere podcasts are heard.

Editor’s Note

Download the show cover art .

Include “The Secret World of Roald Dahl” audio player directly into your article using the embed code below:

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About Aaron Tracy

Aaron Tracy is a bestselling writer and producer from Washington D.C., and the founder of award-winning audio company, Parallax. Tracy’s first audio drama, The Coldest Case, a detective thriller starring Aaron Paul, became the most successful Audible Original ever. Tracy’s iHeart series, Supreme: The Battle for Roe, starring Maya Hawke, about the 26-year-old lead attorney on Roe V. Wade, won the Webby Award for Best Fiction series. 

Some of Tracy’s other audio series include: 10 Days, an underdog NBA story starring Glen Powell; Murder in Bermuda, a courtroom drama starring Mary-Louise Parker; Summer Breeze, a revenge comedy starring Kelly Ripa; and The Commuter, a domestic thriller starring Lizzy Caplan.  

Tracy’s TV writing credits include Law & Order: SVU (NBC), The Tap (USA), and Sequestered (Sony’s Crackle), a thriller about a rogue juror, which he created and ran for two seasons. Over his career, Tracy has developed original series at CBS, USA, Freeform, Lifetime, NBCUniversal, Lionsgate TV, and others. 

Tracy’s first novel, The Honeymoon Period, will be published by Macmillan in Fall ‘26. Tracy is on faculty at Yale University where he teaches creative writing. For more, visit .

About Imagine Entertainment

Founded by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Imagine Entertainment is an award-winning global entertainment company telling stories that inspire and empower, and creating unforgettable entertainment experiences of all genres across Imagine Features, Imagine Television Studios, Imagine Documentaries, Imagine Kids+Family, Imagine Brands, and Imagine Audio, as well as the award-winning Jax Media and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions. Imagine’s productions have been honored with more than 60 prestigious awards including 47 Academy Award nominations and 228 Emmy® award nominations. Past productions include the Academy Award Best Picture winner "A Beautiful Mind", as well as Grammy Award Best Film winner "The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years." Recent productions include the critically acclaimed film "Thirteen Lives" directed by Ron Howard, the hit film "tick, tick...Boom!" directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the critically acclaimed documentaries “Judy Blume Forever”, Sacha Jenkin’s “Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues”, Rory Kennedy’s “Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari”, "Lucy & Desi" directed by Amy Poehler (Two-time Emmy winner) and "We Feed People.”