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

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. 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

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. 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

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

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

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

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

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. A Somethin’ Else Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin’ Else Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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. A Somethin' Else Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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. A Somethin’ Else production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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

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

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. A Somethin’ Else Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin’ Else Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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. A Somethin’ Else Production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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 [email protected] A Somethin' Else production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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. A Somethin' Else production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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? A Somethin’ Else production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 [email protected] or DM Alzo on Instagram @alzoslade A Somethin’ Else production. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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