Cheat!

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin’ Else & Sony Music Entertainment production. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Find more great podcasts from Sony Music Entertainment at sonymusic.com/podcasts To bring your brand to life in this podcast, email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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'. A Somethin' Else production. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Have your own cheat story to tell? Leave us a voicemail at (567) CHEATER. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin' Else Production. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin’ Else production. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin’ Else Production. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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? A Somethin’ Else Production. Exclusive! Grab the NordVPN deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/cheat Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices