Cheat!

She Read Their Minds Then Stole Their Money: The Psychic Scammer Exposed

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 12:00:00 -0000

What would you do if one handwritten letter from a psychic promised to change your life forever?

This is the story of 1 million hopeful Americans, the global scam that took $200m from them, and the mastermind who managed it all by sending out thousands of letters a week.

Investigative journalist Rachel Browne exposes the shocking details of this massive scam on this season of Smoke Screen: The Greatest Scam Ever Written - available now wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribers to The Binge can listen to all episodes right now, completely ad-free.

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Whose Joke Is It Anyway?

Tue, 11 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

Joke stealing. It's a cardinal sin in the comedy community, but it happens...a lot. Sometimes it's truly unintentional or a case of parallel thinking. But other times... it's downright theft. This week, in our final episode, Alzo is joined by acclaimed writers and comedians Chloe Hilliard and Sydnee Washington to talk about joke stealing, confronting comics, and the murky territory of jokes on social media.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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NFL’s Bountygate

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 05:00:00 -0000

After New Orleans was hit by the catastrophic national disaster of hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints quickly became the symbol of America’s team rising up against the odds. With new acquisitions like newbie coach Sean Payton and quarterback Drew Brees, the Saints were turning around their status as a struggling team to a 13 -3 record. By January 2009, the team was just one game away from going to the Superbowl, all they had to do was beat the Vikings. On the field though, it seemed like there was more going on than just a team playing aggressively. Vikings quarterback, Brett Favre, took multiple hits to the head, and their coach accused the Saints of 13 dangerous hits on Favre. As the Saints went on to win the Super Bowl, their conduct fell under investigation by the NFL. And the scandal the NFL uncovered went straight to the top.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Dark Side of Conservatorships

Tue, 28 Mar 2023 05:30:00 -0000

A conservatorship or guardianship is a court appointed order which gives someone permission to act on behalf of an individual who can’t make decisions for themselves. Guardians are kind of like carers – but their power extends to all aspects of another person’s life. In most cases, guardianships are needed, and are only recommended as a last result. But what happens when they go very wrong? What happens when someone is stripped of all their rights, and it’s totally legal?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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My Fake Restaurant

Tue, 21 Mar 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Oobah Butler is a professional prankster. In 2017, he managed to convince the London restaurant scene that he was the owner of the coolest, most popular place in town. A place that didn’t exist. Despite having never served a single customer, this is how The Shed at Dulwich became the No. 1 rated restaurant in London on TripAdvisor.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Jim and Tammy Faye

Tue, 14 Mar 2023 06:00:00 -0000

In the 1980s, The PTL or Praise The Lord Satellite Network founded by Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker broadcast into millions of homes throughout the world with their special brand of prosperity gospel. Jim’s charismatic sermons and Tammy Faye’s musical performances and bombastic personality brought a new kind of Christianity into people’s lives. Their little television studio in Fort Mills, SC quickly grew into Heritage USA, a 2,300 acre resort, waterpark and state-of-the-art recording facility. Paid for largely by the constant telefunding on their shows. Heritage USA gave Christians a special place to bring their families to vacation and worship, but as the Bakker’s empire grew, so did their lavish spending. And just when Jim was set to begin his more ambitious project yet -- a Christian Disneyland -- complete with roller coaster that damned sinners to hell, someone uncovered where all that money was really going.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Fantasy Football School

Tue, 07 Mar 2023 06:00:00 -0000

In 2017, Roy Johnson, a former life insurance salesman turned entrepreneur, opened a new football high school in Ohio. The school's mission was to help students from underfunded backgrounds get a "second chance" at getting into college. Roy promised prospective students new facilities, online classes, and that he'd help get them recruited into the best football college programs. Students from all over the country came to this new school hoping it'd help them achieve their dreams. But when they got there, it was closer to a nightmare.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Scammed By The State

Tue, 28 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0000

How did a trusted British institution manage to have over 600 people convicted for crimes they didn’t commit? In the early 2000’s, the UK Postal Service brought in a new IT system to manage accounts - Horizon. But when a serious amount of cash starts going unaccounted for, innocent employees are blamed.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Toaster Hoaxster

Tue, 21 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Goofing around in class one day, Alex and Alan had no idea that they were about to create a decade-long Wikipedia hoax that would spread into some pretty surprising corners of Scotland: from coffee table books to cooking shows to potentially the country’s currency.

In this episode of Cheat, we talk to the two men who created “Alan McMasters, the Scottish inventor of the electric toaster”, and to the two people who brought the whole lie to light: a teenage reddit enthusiast and an investigative journalist.

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The Dine and Dash Dater

Tue, 14 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Dating is hard. Just about anyone can relate to having trouble meeting new people and making connections. That's why in 2018 Carol Meredith, an actress living in California, decided to give online dating a shot. When she matches with a handsome sports agent named "Mike", and they hit it off right away, she thinks there's a potential partner here. Eventually "Mike" asks Carol out to dinner. But when Carol gets to the restaurant, she notices some things were off – and the date takes a turn for the worse.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Artifakes Exhibition

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Collector Marty Martin spent years finding and sourcing incredible ancient artifacts, which he shared with the world in his touring museum. From dinosaur bones to Egyptian hieroglyphic stones, Marty had it all. And when Marty finds a small, family-owned antique shop, specialising in the earliest years of human history, he thinks he’s struck gold. But some things? They’re just too good to be true.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Cowgirl’s Con

Tue, 31 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Growing up in Dixon, Illinois, in the 90s, Li Arellano never understood why his town seemed to be crumbling, the streets were a mess, the library’s roof leaked, and the old downtown theater was an eyesore. It didn’t seem like it should’ve been that way— plenty of people in town seemed to do well for themselves. Especially Rita Crundwell. She owned hundreds of championship show horses that earned her ribbons and fancy belt buckles, and built a successful horse breeding business. Or at least that’s what people thought. But, for decades, Dixon’s decline was tied to its most razzle-dazzle resident in ways no one suspected.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Sturgeon General

Tue, 24 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Caviar, those little salty fish eggs – are prized by foodies all over the world. The fish that produces caviar, sturgeon, has been struggling to survive in the wild...except in one place: Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin.

There, fisheries biologists have set strict rules that limit how many sturgeon can be caught, and what happens to their eggs. Sturgeon eggs can either be kept and processed into caviar or donated to research. But the caviar cannot be sold, bartered, or traded.

Then things got fishy. Reports started coming in that eggs donated for research were ending up at local bars and community events being served as caviar. And what investigators found went way deeper than a few corrupt government employees.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The World's Most Trafficked Mammal

Tue, 17 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0000

It's likely you've never heard of a pangolin - they're scaly mammals that look kind of like a cross between an artichoke and an anteater. But these elusive creatures have been trafficked to the point of becoming endangered. Why? In some countries, pangolins are coveted for their meat and scales, especially for use in traditional Chinese medicine. And as the demand for traditional medicine grows worldwide, so has demand for pangolin scales. In 2016, it became illegal to commercially trade pangolins, but that isn't slowing traffickers down. Instead they are finding new ways to access scales, often at costs that we're only now starting to understand.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Rise Of Insta-Therapy

Tue, 10 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0000

When it comes to social media, there's no shortage of mental health content. And there's a growing number of influencers who are using their platforms to talk about mental health - that includes everything from diagnosing followers to what to expect in a psychiatric hospital. But not all of the information and advice that's being handed out is accurate. What qualifies someone to be an expert in mental wellbeing? And when can it get dangerous?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Big Fish to Fry

Tue, 03 Jan 2023 06:00:00 -0000

Every spring, the best anglers in the Midwest converge on Lake Erie to try to catch the biggest Walleye and win tens of thousands of dollars in cash prizes. Competitive Walleye fishing is no joke — the fish are elusive and challenging to catch. It’s a very technical sport, that needs strategy, patience and lots and lots of lures.

So, when two previously unremarkable fisherman start winning competition after competition, everyone starts to wonder if there is more to their success than meets the eye.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Unwrapping Hipster Chocolate (Rerun)

Tue, 27 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 2007, two Iowa-born brothers launched an artisanal chocolate company, Mast Brothers, out of an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—the hipster heart of the growing farm-to-table movement.

Mast quickly became a well-known operation, partly because their focus was on creating quality chocolate that only required two ingredients: cocoa beans and sugar. And these speciality bars—hand wrapped in expensive, beautifully designed paper—boasted a $10 price tag.

It was something people were willing to spend for a product that also came with a compelling origin story. But that all changed when customers started to question the narrative of what they had been sold.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Letters to Santa

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In the 1910s, the New York City Post Office was having trouble delivering children's letters addressed to Santa Claus. So every Christmas, thousands of letters went unanswered. Then in 1913, an charming businessman named John Duval Gluck, Jr. started a new charity, “The Santa Claus Association" to fix this problem. The organization was a group of volunteers who responded to children’s letters, and sent the neediest ones to affluent Manhattanites who would provide gifts. The charity became an immediate hit, and garnered attention from celebrities and politicians alike. That is, until the charity became a real money maker and Gluck's ambitions got the best of him.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Missing Link

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 1912, a British amateur archaeologist found fossils that would change the face of evolution. Charles Dawson claimed he had found the missing link - evidence that proved humans had evolved from apes.

The only problem? It was a complete hoax - one that went on for almost 40 years. What happens when we desperately want something to be true, even when science says it isn’t?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Bad Doctor

Tue, 06 Dec 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In the early 2000’s, a man called Ian Paterson was considered one of the best breast surgeons in England. He was a trusted and respected name within the British medical field. But when rumours start spreading about the ethics of Paterson’s practice, innocent patients are forced to pay the price.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Founding Fraudsters

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0000

During the 19th and 20th centuries, the people who helped build and shape American society were some of history’s most notorious swindlers. Many of these scams still exist today - in some form or another.

Alzo sits down with Duke University Professor Edward Balleisen, author of “Fraud: An American History from Barnum to Madoff”, to dig into the relationship between American business and fraud.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Bitcoin Baddies

Tue, 22 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 2016, over 100,000 Bitcoin were stolen from customers using the cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex. The theft rattled the crypto world. At the time of the hack, Bitfinex was considered one of the most stable exchanges in the realm of virtual currency. And there wasn’t much that the company—or authorities—could do to retrieve the stolen coins. They sat in an anonymous wallet for years, accruing value. Millions turned into billions.

Earlier this year, investigators got a lead. And they ended up at the doorstop of two very surprising suspects.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Gaming the Gamers

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Cheating usually takes the fun out of games. But with the rise of competitive gaming in the past decade, more people are willing to cheat – and are paying to do so. This is a story about Cheat Ninja, the biggest video game cheating operation that made millions by not playing by the rules.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Operation Snow White

Tue, 08 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0000

The Church of Scientology has been the subject of public fascination, government investigations, movies, and books for as long as the organization has been around. But what might be less well-known is the Church’s longstanding feud with the Internal Revenue Service of the United States.

After the IRS revoked the Church of Scientology’s tax exempt status in the 1960s, the Church, under L. Ron Hubbard’s leadership, launched an elaborate operation to infiltrate the US government with scientologists.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Fixing to Win

Tue, 01 Nov 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Lotteries should be all about luck. But what if you could beat the odds? Would you do it? In 2010, Hot Lotto – a multi-state lottery game – featured an advertised prize of over $16 million. The owner of the winning ticket wanted to remain anonymous and claim the money to an off shore account. What happened next turned out to be the largest lottery scam in American history.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Talking Gorilla

Tue, 25 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Koko is perhaps the world's most famous gorilla. She was known for her ability to communicate using thousands of signs and gestures taught to her by her caretaker, Francine "Penny" Patterson as part of a research project that spanned 40 years. KoKo captured the public imagination with the way she appeared to think and emote like a human. But as Koko’s fame grew, animal behavioral theorists started to have doubts about the study’s method. How much did Koko really know? What did Koko the talking gorilla really have to say?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Mystery Meat

Tue, 18 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0000

In 2013, beef burgers—and other products advertised as beef—that were sold across Europe were found to contain traces, and in some cases, substantial portions of horse and pig DNA. Turns out, this wasn't a labeling mistake.

It was a perfect storm: a largely self-regulated industry combined with precarious economic conditions, which led to a food safety scandal that rocked the world. This incident would raise pressing questions about transparency in food labeling, and how to prevent food fraud on this scale going forward.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Phishy Business

Tue, 11 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0000

When Indian journalist Nidhi Razdan was tapped for a job as an associate professor at Harvard, she was overjoyed. She went through a full hiring process - resumes, interviews, recommendations, before receiving an offer. She quit her job and began preparing to move to the US. Then, one thing after another went wrong. Classes were delayed. Her housing wasn’t ready.

Turns out there was no job, and Razdan was the victim of a bizarre phishing scam that cyber security experts are still trying to unravel.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Brokerage on the Brink

Tue, 04 Oct 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Toby Groves was running a mortgage brokerage when he discovered a small mistake that had been losing the company money, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of money, very quickly. Toby was willing to do anything he could to save his company and the employee jobs that came with it – even if it meant breaking the law, over and over again.

At first it started with just one little, fraudulent loan, then another and another, until things snowballed into catastrophe.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Rise & Fall of Nigeria's SuperCop

Tue, 27 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Nigeria was struggling with a kidnapping crisis, that is until Abba Kyari took over as the head of an elite police unit. Kyari earned the spotlight through his ability to capture the country’s worst criminals: robbers, kidnappers, bombers, arms dealers, terrorists. His work was so dangerous—and he was so successful at it—that people started calling him “super cop.” He insisted he would go to any length to find criminals, but his rogue operations were actually covering up a much bigger crime.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Introducing: Wolves Among Us, Season 1, The Larry Lavin Story

Mon, 26 Sep 2022 07:00:00 -0000

On the surface, there was nothing remarkable about Larry Lavin. He lived in a quiet neighborhood with his wife and family, drove a Volvo, and practiced dentistry in Philadelphia. But, from 1978 to 1984, Dr. Lavin ran one of the largest cocaine enterprises on the entire eastern seaboard.

Through the voices and perspectives of law enforcement, drug runners, friends, business associates and Larry Lavin himself, Wolves Among Us, Season One, The Larry Lavin Story, tells the story of Lavin’s dual life, his impact on Philadelphia culture in the late 70s and early 80s, and the stunning events that led to his capture.

Wolves Among Us is a presentation and creation of Peabody-nominated C13Originals, a Cadence13 Studio.

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Journey to the Omegaverse

Tue, 20 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0000

When Zoey Ellis lands a contract with a publisher to write a novel, she is thrilled. It's a dream come true. That is until she gets hit with accusations of plagiarism, and takedown notices are filed with all the e-book publishers.

Her fantasy novel is set in the Omegaverse, a fan-created universe online populated by wolf-like creatures called Alphas, Betas and Omegas (A/B/O). The Omegaverse has its roots in erotic slash-fiction from fandoms for CW shows like Teen Wolf and Supernatural.

Fantasy stories are known for their world-building, but what happens when building the world started as an online collaborative endeavor? Can it be plagiarism? Can you copyright a trope?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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When Pigs Can Fly

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Pigs on planes? Snakes in stores? Alpacas in pharmacies? Most are emotional support animals (ESAs). And the demand for ESAs has grown considerably over the last few years, giving rise to a certification factory—all you need is the internet and some cash, and you can get a letter from a therapist designating your pet as an ESA.

How has the rise in ESA certifications complicated the landscape for the folks who need Service Animals (SAs)? How should psychologists approach the growing demand from their clients to certify their pets? And how do we, as a society, establish reasonable guidelines when it comes to the question of where animal companions can or can’t go?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The truth about recycling

Tue, 06 Sep 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Anyone growing up in the US in the 90s probably remembers hearing about how important it was to recycle. By the early 1990s, the US’s landfills were overcrowded with plastic waste, and local governments were talking about banning certain types altogether. That is, until we all started working together to reduce, reuse and recycle.

A years-long ad campaign taught us how to recycle, what to recycle and that why we should all do our part by recycling. The only catch?

It was a multi-million dollar idea that didn’t deliver. Funded largely by plastic and oil companies. And 30 years later, most of your plastics aren’t being recycled – and end up in places that may surprise you.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Mysterious Mango Business

Tue, 30 Aug 2022 00:00:00 -0000

How far would you go to eat a food that reminds you of home? Would you be willing to smuggle it over the border from Canada? Drive four hours each way just to taste it?

In this episode, we hear about a community of Pakistani Americans so obsessed with Pakistani mangos that they’ve developed their own supply chain--all to get a bite of a variety of mango you’ll never find in the grocery store.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The Gucci Billionaire Master

Tue, 23 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Instagram influencer Hushpuppi earned millions of followers by posting a window into the life of the ultra-rich, with his runway-ready designer outfits, garages full of Rolls Royces, private planes, glimpses into the glamorous parties. He had “made it” from nothing and he loved to be a symbol to that his followers they could do it too.

But there was just one question: where did he get all his money?

It’d all come out in an FBI sting operation. And the source of Hushpuppi's wealth is much more common than you’d ever guess.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Sister Swindler

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0000

For 30 years, Sister Mary Margaret Kreuper served as the principal of St. James Elementary—a Catholic school in Torrance, California. She implemented a curriculum that emphasized piety and Christian values—and was loved by parents.

But financially, the small school struggled. There never seemed to be enough money for updated textbooks, field trips, or even lunch tables. Sister Mary Margaret spent years raising funds to help the school. But, despite the raffles, festivals, and calls to donate, nothing seemed to be getting better, that is, until the truth came out about where the money was really going.

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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Cheat! is back. New episodes weekly!

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Cheat! returns with new episodes weekly. Hosted by award-winning journalist and comedian Alzo Slade, Cheat! dives into the epic stories behind the biggest cheats and scandals out there, looking for answers about who they are and why they skirt the rules.

From the allure of get rich quick schemes to the motivations of an imposter, Cheat! brings you stories of huge heists, online scams, dirty nuns, and asks what would you do if you could get away with it?

A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production.

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The (Rare) Book Thief (Fan Pick)

Tue, 09 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0000

New Cheat episodes weekly starting in August with a whole new season of Cheat!

Greg Priore was thrilled to be named the head archivist and manager of the special collections room at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He’d been trained in archives management and had an appreciation for the rare books he was now expected to protect.

25 years after Priore’s appointment to the role, the library decided to do an inventory of their special collection. That’s when they discovered that over three hundred rare and valuable items were missing.

And there had only been one person who’d had constant access to the collection for all those years: Greg Priore.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Hook, Wine and Sinker (Fan Pick)

Tue, 02 Aug 2022 05:00:00 -0000

New Cheat! episodes weekly starting in August with a whole new season of Cheat! Here’s the final installment of fan favorites.

In the mid-2000s a young guy from Indonesia single handedly changed the world of fine wine. He bought and sold hundred thousand dollar bottles without a second thought.

He was a hero to a new generation of fine wine connoisseurs who had cash to flash in the boom years before the recession.

But what a lot of those connoisseurs didn’t know was that this one guy, this guy that they idolised and adored, was actually carrying out one of the biggest frauds the wine world – or any world for that matter – had ever seen.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Hipster Grifter (Fan Pick)

Tue, 26 Jul 2022 05:00:00 -0000

New Cheat! episodes weekly starting in August. While we’re away working on the new season, we’re highlighting some of our fan favorites, including this one from July 2021.

In the late noughties a woman appeared in New York. She was edgy and cool and she had a tattoo on her chest that read I Love Beards.

But she was hiding a secret. A secret that – when it came out – would turn her from just an ordinary hipster into a con woman who helped define a generation.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Plagiarism At The New York Times (Fan Pick)

Tue, 19 Jul 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Missing your Cheat! fix? We've got a brand new season on the way. In the meantime, we’re highlighting some of our fan favorites, including this this one from November 2021, where we talk to the cheater himself.

At the beginning of spring 2003 a young journalist by the name of Jayson Blair seemingly had it all. In five years, he had gone from summer intern to staff reporter at one of the world's most respected news organisations, The New York Times. He had the keys to the kingdom. Until something happened that led us to discover the truth about Jayson and his reporting.

As Jayson himself says in an exclusive interview with Alzo - 'I had the world's best feedback session'.

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Stolen Art, Stolen Back (Fan Pick)

Tue, 12 Jul 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Missing your Cheat! fix? We've got a brand new season on the way, full of new stories of the people we love to hate - Cheats! New episodes weekly starting in August. In the meantime, we’re highlighting some of our fan favorites, starting with this one from October 2021

In 2010, the first of a series of international heists took place at a royal residence in Sweden. The thieves set fire to cars to distract the police, ignored the more valuable items on display, and stole a very specific set of Chinese artifacts. Then, they fled by speedboat. It was almost too dramatic to be true.
Then after one stolen item was located, a shocking theory arose about who may be masterminding the heists.

A Somethn'Else production.

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A Very Special Alien Autopsy

Tue, 05 Jul 2022 05:00:00 -0000

In 1995, FOX aired the one-hour special, Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction? Amid various expert testimonies and commentary, there was a piece of footage from a mysterious source that further ignited a debate that had been raging for a while. Were aliens real? And did the U.S. government have more information—and more access—to them than we knew?

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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Sidney Poitier's Imaginary Son

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0000

In the 1980s, well-heeled Manhattanites opened their homes to a young man they believed to be Sidney Poitier’s son. He’d promise them parts in movies, and charm them with anecdotes of being on set with his father, or his life at Harvard University. They’d give him food, a place to sleep, and even a little money. The only problem was, Sidney Poitier didn’t have a son.

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The Great Tax Prep Swindle

Tue, 21 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Last year, Intuit—the company that owns the tax prep software TurboTax—reached a settlement with 50 state attorneys general, requiring the company to issue $141 million in refunds to users.

The problem? For years, TurboTax has been advertising free filing services but only 2% of 70% eligible tax payers actually filed at no cost.

And it turns out…that might have been Intuit’s plan the whole time.

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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The Boy in the Balloon (Update)

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0000

At the end of this episode, last aired in August 2021, Alzo speaks to someone who knew the Heene family—behind the scenes.

In 2009, a little town in Denver called Fort Collins made international headlines. The Heene family were doing an experiment with a huge homemade balloon in their back garden when the balloon escaped its tethers and flew off. But it’s what they told the police that caused a media frenzy.

They reported that their 6 year old son had climbed inside the flyaway balloon.

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Under Foals Pretenses

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 05:00:00 -0000

For a long time, if you were in America and looking to gamble, you'd head to the racetrack to bet on horses. Maybe sip on some cocktails while you're there too. But that all changed in the mid-'90s--when gambling laws got lax. Suddenly there were more ways for folks to play it fast and loose with their hard-earned cash and racetracks had to find a way to stay afloat.

The story of how one private industry managed to rope in billions of dollars in public subsidies.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Bad Batsman

Tue, 31 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

In the early 1990’s Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa. He began a process of shedding the sins of apartheid and show the rest of the world that his country wasn’t a rogue state. His foreign policy stretched from international aid missions to international sport.

In this time, a new sporting hero came to fame: Hansie Cronje - the captain of South Africa’s cricket team. Over a six year period, Hansie won over the love of all South Africans. Little did they know, he was harbouring a dark secret, one that would break the hearts of all his supporters.

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Targeted by the State

Tue, 24 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

The day after Dr. Feng “Franklin” Tao returned from his trip to China in 2019, FBI agents were at the door of his home in Lawrence, Kansas. He was being arrested.

Someone had called in a tip claiming that this University of Kansas chemistry professor might be involved in…espionage.

An investigation began, under the mantle of a questionable national security program, which turned Dr. Tao’s life upside down. There was just one problem: was there ever actually any evidence to justify these suspicions?

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The (Rare) Book Thief

Tue, 17 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

And there had only been one person who’d had constant access to the collection for all those years: Greg Priore.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Concussions, Race, and the NFL (Update)

Tue, 10 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Since we aired this episode in November 2021, the story has progressed, and Alzo will provide an update on the options injured Black players now have to get fair compensation from the NFL.

The NFL’s 2013 class-action settlement with retired players over claims that the League concealed a connection between game-related hits to the head and long-term cognitive damage was the first of its kind in sports history. Players experiencing head trauma would finally have some recourse and support.

However, the process for evaluating players’ claims incorporated a controversial scoring system called race-norming.

And it turns out these race norms made it harder for Black players to qualify for awards.

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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Boxing's Dirty Business

Tue, 03 May 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Boxing. It's one of the most popular sports in the world, watched by millions of people both at ringside and on television. But have you ever stopped to wonder who is putting together the fights in the first place.

This week on Cheat, we’re going to the '70s, to the golden age of boxing—where historical fights like Rumble in the Jungle and Thrilla in Manilla are being fought. At the centre of it all is a boxing promoter by the name of Don King. On the surface he seems like boxing’s boy wonder, but he’s been cutting corners and in 1977 he cut one of his biggest with all all-American Boxing tournament.

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Fictional Lives

Tue, 26 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

H.G. “Hache” Carrillo was unlike any professor that Paula Mejía had experienced in college. An acclaimed author who taught creative writing, Professor Carrillo was charismatic, exacting, and generous. He engaged with questions of belonging and identity in his work—often examining his Afro-Cuban heritage.
When he passed away in the spring of 2020, his loss was mourned greatly. Especially by his former students. But their grieving was complicated by a shocking discovery about the life of the professor and author they thought they knew.

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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Buried Treasure

Tue, 19 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Layton Davies and George Powell take a drive to Herefordshire in the UK one June day in 2015. They’re going to walk around a field…with their metal detectors. They’re detectorists and they plan to spend the day searching the ground for any goods. To their surprise, they strike on literal gold. They found treasure.

And now they’ve got to figure out what they’re going to do with it because, as the saying goes: finders keepers. But that’s not what the law says.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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When Reality Bites

Tue, 12 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

We’ve all watched reality tv shows like Survivor and thought…”I could do that”. But have you ever wondered how the sausage is made? Who these people are coming up with these crazy ideas in the first place? And how they find the people willing to put themselves in these ridiculous situations?

In the early 2000s one student had an idea for the next big reality show. He promised his contestants a life of fame and fortune…little did they know, there was dark truth hiding behind the scenes.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Gamers Turned Thieves

Tue, 05 Apr 2022 05:00:00 -0000

Nick had been modding, or modifying, games like Halo since he was 8 years old. By the time he was in his early 20s, he could turn his hacking skills to pretty much anything.

When the latest FIFA game came out, Nick teamed up with four guys he met online and together they took millions from EA Sports. They thought they wouldn’t get in trouble with the law because they tried to do everything by the book, but then someone snitched.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Preying on Hope: Part II

Tue, 29 Mar 2022 05:00:00 -0000

For families seeking to adopt, Tara Lee’s Always Hope Pregnancy and Education Center was an ideal option. Not only did Tara organize matches between prospective families and birth mothers quickly, but she also prioritized providing emotional and financial support for the birth moms.

Sure, Tara was a bit disorganized. And hard to track down. But she was busy organizing adoptions and tending to her own family. Or so everyone thought.

That would change when a number of Tara's clients connected online. And then, they discovered that Tara was not at all who she seemed.

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Preying on Hope: Part I

Tue, 22 Mar 2022 11:03:00 -0000

Sure, Tara was a bit disorganized. And hard to track down. But she was busy organizing adoptions and tending to her own family. Or so everyone thought.

That would change when a number of Tara's clients connected online. And then, they discovered that Tara was not at all who she seemed.

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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Introducing Power: Don King

Wed, 16 Mar 2022 00:00:00 -0000

We wanted to share a show which we think you’ll want to listen to. Power: Don King.

In a sport famed for money and excess, what does it take to get to the top...and stay there?

Rising from a life of hardship and crime, Don King became the most successful boxing promoter the sport has ever seen—and the first Black man to do so. He is his own American Dream. His flamboyant appearance and commanding personality made him a star in and out of the ring, as did his promotion of greats like Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, and even America’s musical dynasty, the Jacksons. But his less than honest exploits? They made him legendary.

Listen and follow now wherever you get your podcasts.

Power is a Somethin’ Else production with Sony Music Entertainment

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The Monster in the Lab Coat

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Robert Courtney is a pharmacist who was not what he seemed. Putting his community members’ lives at risk instead of ensuring his clients were getting the medicine they needed.

A Kansas City staple: the local pharmacist at Research Medical Tower, he spent his days behind the counter, distributing medication, or in the backroom where he mixed chemotherapy IVs to deliver to doctors who have patients battling cancer. He was seen as a local do-gooder who goes the extra mile in his work, or so everyone thought… but it’s an offhand comment that leads to a shocking discovery about Courtney, and the risks he was putting his clients at.

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The Mechanics of Sabotage

Tue, 08 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 2007, a customer walked into a copy shop to get over 700 pages of information copied onto CDs. The shop assistant, a massive Formula 1 fan, recognised the Ferrari logo on the documents and took a closer peak. It was page after page of diagrams and highly confidential notes on Ferrari’s F1 car.

But the customer who brought it in was married to McLaren’s Chief Designer - one of Ferrari’s biggest rivals.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Governor’s Fall

Tue, 01 Mar 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 2002, Rod Blagojevich was elected governor of Illinois—the first Democrat to hold the seat in thirty years.

He entered office with a progressive agenda and a promise to clean up the wide-spread corruption that had plagued Illinois' government.

But all of that changed with the 2008 presidential election, when Blagojevich saw an opportunity to capitalize on…for his own gain.

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Activists & The Police

Tue, 22 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Is it cheating if it is state sanctioned? It’s the late 20th century and the UK is going through a period of civil unrest, there are protests and demonstrations every week. In an effort to control the protests, British police hatch a secret undercover operation…one that would take them behind the picket lines and into the heart (or hearts) of many activist groups.

A Somethin' Else Production.

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Letters From A Forger

Tue, 15 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

When biographer Lee Israel’s career falls apart, she tries desperately to find a way to support herself. No one wants to work with her, she’s behind on rent, and her beloved cat needs urgent medical attention.

With less than $40 dollars in her pocket, she notices that there's demand for old letters from deceased authors. So, she buys a bunch of typewriters and starts forging her own.

In this episode of Cheat! Alzo digs into the real story behind the movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? to find out just how the fakes get away with it.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Reporting On A Doping Scandal

Tue, 08 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 2003 news spread of a government backed raid on a small laboratory near the San Francisco airport. The lab was called BALCO.

As two journalists at the local paper started to dig deeper they began to realise this raid would uncover secrets that would change the face of sport forever. What they didn’t realise however was how this story would test their own resolve and put their freedom at risk.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Unwrapping Hipster Chocolate

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In 2007, two Iowa-born brothers launched an artisanal chocolate company, Mast Brothers, out of an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—the hipster heart of the growing farm-to-table movement.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Undercover in a Cult

Tue, 25 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

The Kabbalah Centre took off when Madonna changed her name to Esther and joined their ranks. Soon enough, Ashton Kutcher, Victoria Beckham and many other celebrities were wearing the Kabbalah Centre’s signature red string bracelet.

But, the centre’s teachings were unconventional. They claimed that you could simply scan the words of the Zohar, even if you didn’t understand the Aramaic text, and reap spiritual benefits.

Journalist John Sweeney started an investigation and sent in an undercover agent to infiltrate the centre. What he found out was shocking.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Conversion Therapy

Tue, 18 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

In the US, around 700,000 gay, lesbian or bisexual people have received some form of conversion therapy. In the UK, thousands of LGBTQIA+ people have been offered or are undergoing it. But why and how do so many people end up going through this experience? And paying for it.

Chaim Levin was a 13 year old Jewish boy from an orthodox background the moment he realised he was gay. He was stood in a synagogue at his own bar mitzvah reading a passage from the Torah, that stated homosexuality was an abomination. That was the beginning of years of conversion therapy.

McRae Game spent 28 years of his life trying to convince other gay Christian folks to lead heterosexual lives. His organisation, one of the largest conversion therapy ministries in America, taught celibacy, then advised people to get married and start families with a member of the opposite sex. It wasn’t until 2019 however that McRae denounced the practice he had spent over two decades promoting and came to terms with who he was.

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Mum's Secret Illness

Tue, 11 Jan 2022 11:57:33 -0000

On the outside Helen Naylor had a pretty standard childhood. She had a father, a mother and roof over her head. But all was not as it seemed. In 2016, 2 years after her mother’s death, Helen discovered her diaries. And in those diaries lay not only the truth about her mother’s medical conditions. But also the truth about Helen’s upbringing.

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Shipping Salmonella

Tue, 04 Jan 2022 06:00:00 -0000

Towards the end of 2008, hundreds of people across the United States were falling ill with salmonella poisoning. The outbreak was eventually traced back to one company: The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). But this wasn’t your average case of corporate misconduct. In fact, federal investigations into PCA revealed a much more sinister (and sickening) story.

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Happy Holidays!

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Hey folks, happy holidays! We're taking a week off. We'll be back next Tuesday with another episode for you. In the meantime, we'd love to hear from you.

It could be a specific cheat you want to hear about or you might just want to say hi! Email cheat@somethinelse.com

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Making Money Disappear

Tue, 21 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

When $242 million dollars went missing from a bank in Dubai and the bank manager swore that something supernatural was going on, journalist Brigitte Scheffer was intrigued. She followed the story in disbelief as the bank manager pointed the blame at one man, Foutanga Sissoko. Sissoko had a reputation for splashing millions of dollars like it was nothing - he would buy cars as gifts and on Thursdays he would drive around giving money to the homeless. But now he was at the centre of a major fraud investigation… and he was nowhere to be found.

Go to cheatpodcast.com to fill out our listener survey and tell us what you want to hear on the show!

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Glory, Scandal and Bernard Tapie

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Bernard Tapie was a star in France. He had his own TV show ‘Ambition’. He was a brilliant business man. And his soccer team, Marseille, were dominating the French national league, year after year. Everything Tapie touched turned to gold. That was until 1993, when his win at all cost mentality got the better of him. And he made a decision that would eventually tarnish the glory of his players, his team and the country.

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Bad Education

Tue, 07 Dec 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Ex-FBI officer Allen Ezell had been investigating the trade in fake educational qualifications for decades. But when he got tipped off about a so-called degree mill operating out of Pakistan, he couldn’t believe the scale of it.

The operation was making hundreds of millions of dollars. Their degrees were bought by doctors, lawyers, pilots—and even politicians. And the whole scam was operating in plain sight—run by a company called Axact, which claimed to be the world’s largest IT company. Allen, together with a bunch of investigative journalists, were eventually able to unmask the world’s largest ever diploma scam. But was that the end of Axact’s activities?

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Fleet Cheat

Tue, 30 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

In the aftermath of the Cold War, the US was considered the naval superpower of the world. The country continued to look to its navy as a tool to maintain its influence, finding new ports across the globe.

And there was one man who facilitated the movements of US ships throughout Asia: Leonard Francis Glenn…AKA Fat Leonard. He worked as a husbanding agent through his firm Glenn Defense Marine Asia. He handled the logistics—or the dirty work—that was part of docking and servicing these ships.

And Fat Leonard did more. He personally made sure that US officers aboard had everything and anything they wanted. There were just a few things he wanted in exchange for his services…starting with confidential naval ship schedules. In 2013, Fat Leonard was arrested in a sting operation orchestrated by US authorities for his central role in of one of the US military’s largest scandals to date.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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No Thanks(giving)

Tue, 23 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

One of America’s earliest cheats has evolved into the sugar-coated story of Thanksgiving that many of us know today. In this episode, we revisit the story of how English colonists cheated Native Americans out of their land. Alzo speaks to author David J Silverman and Wampanoag member Kisha James to find out what really happened when the English arrived in America, and the result of their cheat today.

Go to cheatpodcast.com to fill out our listener survey and tell us what you want to hear on the show!

A Somethin’ Else production.
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Plagiarism At The New York Times

Tue, 16 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

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Concussions, Race, and the NFL

Tue, 09 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Players experiencing head trauma would finally have some recourse and support.

However, the process for evaluating players’ claims incorporated a controversial scoring system called race-norming.

And it turns out these race norms made it harder for Black players to qualify for awards.

A Somethin’ Else Production

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Orchid Fever

Tue, 02 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

In 1995, a sting operation was put into action that resulted in the arrest of a smuggler less than 24 hours after he’d set foot on American soil. The sting had taken over a year to devise. The target had been Indonesian national, Harto Kolopaking and his smuggled loot: wild orchids flowers. Harto became the first person to ever face prison time in the U.S. for smuggling Orchids but his prosecution isn’t all that it seems.

This is a story of the fight for survival, the critical world of conservation and begs the question, is there ever a right time to partner with the ones breaking the rules? Go to cheatpodcast.com to fill out our listener survey and tell us what you want to hear on the show!

A Somethin Else production.

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Introducing Power: Hugh Hefner

Mon, 01 Nov 2021 06:00:00 -0000

Who was Hugh Hefner? Centerfold models, Playboy Bunnies, and other women from the Playboy founder’s inner circle, like TV personality and author Holly Madison, tell journalist Amy Rose Spiegel their side of his story. We hear how Playboy changed their lives, for better and for worse. Beyond the bunny tails are darker questions: What actually went on at the notorious Playboy Mansion? How can we square Hefner's progressive legacy with his abuse of vulnerable people? What can the Playboy saga tell us about sex and power—then and now?

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Lying Dutchman

Tue, 26 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 2011, after years of analysing other people’s actions, world famous social psychologist Diederik Stapel was suddenly confronted by his own.

Actions that cast a shadow on the world of academia. What is it they say? Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good study?

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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The Tax Trick

Tue, 19 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

While planning for her wedding on the island of Jersey, Tanya Dick-Stock made a startling discovery: a room full of boxes that contained hundreds of thousands of documents. Turns out these documents would shed an entirely new light on the financial business that once had operated out of her family home.

A Somethin' Else Production.

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Stolen Art, Stolen Back

Tue, 12 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 2010, the first of a series of international heists took place at a royal residence in Sweden. The thieves set fire to cars to distract the police, ignored the more valuable items on display, and stole a very specific set of Chinese artefacts. Then, they fled by speedboat. It was almost too dramatic to be true.

Then after one stolen item was located, a shocking theory arose about who may be masterminding the heists.

Go to cheatpodcast.com to fill out our listener survey and tell us what you want to hear on the show!

A Somethin’ Else Production

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Send Us Your Cheats!

Tue, 05 Oct 2021 05:00:00 -0000

We're taking a week off. We'll be back next Tuesday with another episode for you. But we want to hear from you. Tell us what cheats you want to hear about?

It could be a specific cheat, or just a type of cheating. Email cheat@somethinelse.com or DM Alzo on Instagram @alzoslade

A Somethin’ Else production.

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The Grandmaster Grift

Tue, 28 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

You might think chess is a sport for the older generation, but in the 80s everything changed. Young players started to rise to the top and within just a few years they were given the highest title in the sport - Grandmaster. It was unheard of. Then, when one pre-teen broke the world record for youngest Grandmaster in history, suspicions started to arise about how these kids were getting so successful. And all the evidence pointed to one thing - their parents were bending the rules.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Private War In Afghanistan

Wed, 22 Sep 2021 11:00:00 -0000

On April 14th 2021, President Biden announced plans to withdraw troops from Afghanistan. Effectively ending America’s 20 year occupation.

After two decades and countless lives lost this episode asks who were the real winners of the Forever War?

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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The Medical Fraud that Fueled an Anti-Vax Movement

Tue, 14 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 1998, a medical journal published an early report that looked into the relationship between inflammatory bowel disease, the MMR vaccine, and Autism Spectrum Disorder. The paper itself found nothing conclusive and no link has ever been proven. And yet this belief still spread rapidly…thanks to one man.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Introducing The Fault Line: Dying for a Fight

Mon, 13 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Portland-based anti-fascist Sean Kealiher was killed in 2019, months before the uprising that would bring Portland international attention.

Nearly two years later, his homicide remains unsolved. His mother, Laura, believes she hasn't received justice because of police hatred for her son and his politics.

Dying For A Fight, the second instalment in Somethin’ Else’s Fault Line series, goes in search of answers: What happened the night Sean was killed? Why have no arrests been made? Who are the Americans living at the political extremes? And how did things escalate from Portland to the Capitol?

This is a Somethin' Else and Oregon Public Broadcast production.

Listen now to new episodes of The Fault Line: Dying for a Fight every Monday wherever you get your podcasts!

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Climategate

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 2009, hackers leaked thousands of private emails between climate scientists. There was a media frenzy. Was climate change real or had these scientists been fudging the data? Rather than defending themselves, the scientists involved went silent.

This is the story of how an email leak led the world to question if global warming was fiction, and how climate change became a matter of identity and politics rather than science.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Small Time Cheats

Tue, 31 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

We're doing something a little different this week. Because when we looked into one particular golf player's tendency to cheat in a friendly and fun game, we found that it revealed something about the cheater in all of us.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Flint Switch

Tue, 24 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

On April 25th, 2014 a change was made that would cheat a whole community out of a basic human right. The right to drink clean, safe water.

This is the story of what happens when the people in charge, go from minding the bottom line. To becoming obsessed with it.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Cheat Day

Tue, 17 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

For decades, people religiously followed low-fat diets. New food products and beverages flooded the market promising no fat or low fat, but also contained high amounts of sugar. Turns out that wasn’t very good for us either.

This is the troubling story of how an industry capitalized on some complicated science to push a narrative that would change the course of public health permanently.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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The Boy in the Balloon

Tue, 10 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 2009, a little town in Denver called Fort Collins made international headlines. The Heene family were doing an experiment with a huge homemade balloon in their back garden when the balloon escaped its tethers and flew off. But it’s what they told the police that caused a media frenzy.

They reported that their 6 year old son had climbed inside the flyaway balloon.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Heimlich Goes To Hollywood

Tue, 03 Aug 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Dr Henry Heimlich became a household name after he created the Heimlich maneuver. He had saved American lives, and the public loved him. He was their hero.

But then, everything came crashing down. Heimlich was accused of abandoning his ethics in his mission to cure AIDS. As quickly as he had risen to fame, America’s most beloved doctor fell from glory.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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The Marion Jones Effect

Tue, 27 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

At the Sydney Olympics, 2000, one woman became a global superstar. She brought home five medals and cemented herself in American sporting history. Her name? Marion Jones.

This is the story of her rise to the top, the lasting legacy of her spectacular fall and the punishment dealt out to her by society.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Hipster Grifter

Tue, 20 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In the late noughties a woman appeared in New York. She was edgy and cool and she had a tattoo on her chest that read I Love Beards.

But she was hiding a secret. A secret that – when it came out – would turn her from just an ordinary hipster into a con woman who helped define a generation.

A Somethin' Else production.

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All At Sea

Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 1968 nine men set out to sail around the world solo. One of those nine didn’t come back.

This is the tragic story of a man who – when faced with a choice between failure and certain death – decided to cheat. And the consequences of that decision for him and the people around him.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Ashley Madison Affair

Tue, 06 Jul 2021 00:00:00 -0000

In the early 2000s a former attorney from Canada was online one day when he had an idea. There are a tonne of dating sites around for single people but what about people in relationships who wanted to cheat? And so Ashley Madison was born. – a website for men and women looking to have an affair. It was a huge success.

And then one day employees at the company sit down at their computers and find a message popping up on their screens. If you don’t take down this website we will release the names and email addresses of all of your users. 40 million people – all cheats – about to have their deepest, darkest secrets exposed for the world to see.

A Somethin' Else production.

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The Coughing Major

Tue, 29 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

A man walks into a tv studio and on live television tries to steal a million pounds.

It’s the story of one of the most audacious and ridiculous heists in British history. The swindling of the UK’s most beloved quiz show: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

A Somethin' Else production.

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Con Artist

Tue, 22 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

A woman walks into an art gallery on the Upper East Side of New York City carrying a collection of lost masterpieces by some of the world’s most famous artists.

So begins a tale of money, greed and an 80 million dollar con where what you see is not necessarily what you should believe.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Hook, Wine and Sinker

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In the mid-2000s a young guy from Indonesia single handedly changed the world of fine wine. He bought and sold hundred thousand dollar bottles without a second thought.

He was a hero to a new generation of fine wine connoisseurs who had cash to flash in the boom years before the recession.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Anarchy In The Ring

Tue, 08 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

On June 16th, 1983 two boxers stepped into the ring at Madison Square Garden. What happened next was so brutal, that the fight would forever be remembered as the most shameful night in boxing history.

In the lead up to the fight Billy Collins Jr was training hard and looking after his pregnant wife. He had no idea that somewhere across the country, two people were coming together to plan a violent takedown.

In this episode, we see exactly how far people are willing to go to win.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Trillion Dollar Crash

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 05:00:00 -0000

On May 6th, 2010 something happened that rocked the world of high-finance to its core. One trillion dollars wiped off the US stock markets in a matter of minutes.

Thousands of miles away in the suburbs of London, a young guy called Navinder Sarao was placing trades from a tiny bedroom in his parents house.

Little did he know that he was now at the centre of a huge international investigation by the FBI, would face extradition to the US and potentially years in a federal prison thousand of miles away from home.

This is the story of what happens when the little guy finds a way to cheat the establishment.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Public School Mafia: Part 2

Tue, 25 May 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 2015, Atlanta Judge Jerry Baxter sentenced ten people to almost 100 years in prison for racketeering. It ended one of the longest trials ever seen in the state of Georgia.

Except this was no normal racketeering trial. This is a tale of race and class with a central question at its heart. What causes a group of upstanding citizens, revered in society, to cheat? In the second of two episodes, we discover what really happened in the Atlanta Public School district.

And meet one of its employees who says what the media reported at the time isn’t what was going on at all.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Public School Mafia: Part 1

Mon, 24 May 2021 05:00:00 -0000

In 2015, Atlanta Judge Jerry Baxter sentenced ten people to almost 100 years in prison for racketeering. It ended one of the longest trials ever seen in the state of Georgia.

Except this was no normal racketeering trial.

This is a tale of race and class with a central question at its heart. What causes a group of upstanding citizens, revered in society, to cheat?

In this first of two episodes we start to unravel the story of one of the most shocking cheating scandals in American history.

A Somethin' Else production.

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Introducing... Cheat!

Mon, 12 Apr 2021 05:00:00 -0000

Have you ever wondered about those people in life who don’t play by the rules? Maybe it was the person who looked over your shoulder in that exam. The person who got the job instead of you because they lied on their application or the nice fella on the phone who said he was from the bank and ended up taking all your money.

We have a name for these people. We call them cheats. People who cheat the system, largescale cheats, social media cheats. We are fascinated by them. We read about them in paper. Or watch news stories about them on TV. We marvel at their rise and take a weird pleasure in their fall. But do we ever ask what makes these cheats actually do the bad things they do? What makes them cheat?

From Somethin’ Else, makers of ‘Power: The Maxwells’ and ‘The Fault Line: Bush, Blair and Iraq’, hosted by storyteller Alzo Slade, ‘Cheat!’ tells the inside stories behind some of the biggest scandals in contemporary history and the flawed protagonists at their heart: controversial and contentious figures from the world of pop culture, business, sport, music, politics. Why do people cheat? Is it ever justifiable? And most importantly are cheats – these people we think of as the dregs of our society – actually not so different from ourselves?

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