Paperless

In a case that stunned the FBI, a linguist assigned to a high-profile terrorism case disappeared—only to resurface behind enemy lines, married to her target. WRITTEN BY: MICHAEL LAPOINTEREPORTED BY: EMILY DISCHE-BECKERAUDIO: DOMINIC GOZONARRATED BY: EMILIA CLARKE Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation with journalist Serena Coady, author of THE BEANIE BABY BANDIT '97.HOST: MICHAEL LAPOINTEEDITING: THOMAS CURRYMUSIC, SCORING & SOUND-DESIGN: NATALIA RODRIGUEZ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Chicago in the summer of '97, and criminal defense attorney Kathleen Zellner (of Making a Murderer fame) is feeling worn out. After once defending a serial killer, she promised herself never to defend a guilty person again, and has devoted her life to exonerating the innocent. But after years of gruesome murder trials, she needs a holiday. When a lemon-yellow stretch Cadillac bounces into her parking lot, and out hops a five-foot-tall, 77-year-old man named Ben Perri, that holiday arrives. Ben has been accused of a bizarre crime: the theft of hundreds of ultra-rare Beanie Babies from the manufacturer's secret warehouse. With Beanie Baby mania in full swing, the toys are fetching stratospheric prices, and Ben will gladly hook you up with an elusive Digger the Crab or Radar the Bat. The press calls him the Beanie Baby Bandit, but he swears he's innocent. As this jovial grandfather and veteran charms Kathleen and her team, his carefree way of life gives her a new outlook on the difficult job she's chosen. But still, she can't quite answer whether he's guilty, and whether she's broken her promise to herself. Is Ben just an innocent lover of toys, or is he really the Beanie Baby Bandit?JOURNALIST: SERENA COADYEDITING: THOMAS CURRYSOUND-DESIGN & AUDIO MIX: ALICE BOYDVOICE: JILL WINTERNITZ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation with journalist Shaun Raviv, author of THE MOCKBUSTER. HOST: MICHAEL LAPOINTEEDITING: THOMAS CURRYMUSIC, SCORING & SOUND-DESIGN: NATALIA RODRIGUEZ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When small-time money counterfeiter Edward L. Montoro nearly dies in a plane crash, he decides to reinvent himself as a filmmaker. It's the late 1970s, the dawn of the age of the blockbuster, and Montoro pioneers the "mockbuster"—knock-off productions that capitalize on the popularity of mainstream Hollywood films. But as his little studio attracts the wrath of the movie industry, Montoro makes a desperate decision, sparking one of the great unsolved mysteries in cinematic history.JOURNALIST: SHAUN RAVIVEDITING: THOMAS CURRYSOUND-DESIGN & AUDIO MIX: ALICE BOYDVOICE: ERIC JASON MARTIN Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation with journalist Alex Mayyasi, author of The Way We're Built. HOST: MICHAEL LAPOINTEEDITING: THOMAS CURRYMUSIC, SCORING & SOUND-DESIGN: NATALIA RODRIGUEZ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Facing hard times in the early 1990s, Subaru of America is trying to understand who exactly buys their sturdy but drab brand of cars. That's when one marketing executive notices a peculiar niche in their focus groups—lesbian women. In the conservative corporate culture of Subaru, a group of marketing executives will try to turn the company's fortunes around through a secretive marketing campaign.JOUNALIST: ALEX MAYYASIEDITING: THOMAS CURRYMUSIC, SCORING & SOUND-DESIGN: DOMINIC GOZOVOICE: NESBA CRENSHAW Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation with journalist Yochai Maital author of "The Badir Brothers".HOST: MICHAEL LAPOINTEJOURNALIST: YOCHAI MAITALAUDIO: NATALIA RODRIGUEZ FORD Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In a small Israeli village in the 1980s, three Arab brothers are born blind. When a payphone is installed at the end of the block, the brothers discover they can use their supersensitive hearing to manipulate the lines to do their bidding, the first step in what will become the largest telecom fraud in Israeli history.JOURNALIST: YOCHAI MAITALAUDIO: NATALIA RODRIGUEZ FORD & DOMINIC GOZOVOICE: ALI SULIMANREPORTING BY: ADAM BIZANSKI Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A conversation about fakes, hustlers, and how to rip off the Grateful Dead with Harmon Leon, author of “Blinkers. Host: Michael LaPointeJournalist: Harmon LeonAudio: Natalia Rodriguez Ford Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Teenage hustler Conor MacKay makes his living selling counterfeit tickets—or blinkers—at concerts and sporting events across the United States. It's the early 1990s, the golden age of the blinker game, but as the federal authorities and Ticketmaster close in, Conor has to find what's authentic in this world of fakes. A fictional story based on real events.Narrator: Carter BellaimeyJournalist: Harmon LeonAudio: Maddie Hickish & Dominic Gozo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Los Angeles in the mid-2000s and Nina is chasing the LA dream. She falls into sex work and gets caught up in her boyfriend/pimp's latest scheme: robbing banks. A disparate group of sex workers are transformed into a gang of bank robbers named The Starlet Bandits...Narrator: Jurnee SmollettJournalist: Lexi PandellAudio: Natalia Rodriguez Ford & Dominic Gozo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Los Angeles in the mid-2000s and Nina is chasing the LA dream. She falls into sex work and gets caught up in her boyfriend/pimp's latest scheme: robbing banks. A disparate group of sex workers are transformed into a gang of bank robbers named The Starlet Bandits...Narrator: Jurnee SmollettJournalist: Lexi PandellAudio: Natalia Rodriguez Ford & Dominic Gozo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's 1974, and Richard Molfer has just started his own labor consulting firm and zeroed in on his first client: a hospital in Elizabeth, New Jersey. A union drive is about to start here, the employees are already organizing, and administrators are terrified. But Molfer, a seasoned veteran of hardcore union fights in the mines of Utah, has a plan. He's going to divide and conquer the staff, and make sure Local 1199 never sets foot in that hospital—all for a price, of course. Little does he know that he's about to meet his greatest protegee, a young man with an uncanny gift for gaining trust, and that blood will be spilled before this drive is over. Inspired by true events.Writer: Naben Ruthnum Voice: Eric Jason Martin Audio: Dominic Gozo, Maddie Hickish, Aron Keller Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When the great Russian writer Anton Chekov visits the penal colony on the remote island of Sakhalin in 1890, he is astonished to learn that they're holding a famous prisoner—Sonya Golden Hand. He finds the legendary con-artist in solitary confinement, her legs clamped in iron chains. Chekhov kneels down beside her on the filthy prison floor. Tell me the story of how you ended up in chains...Writer: Michael LaPointeVoice: Olga KurylenkoAudio: Dominic Gozo Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A woman grapples with the mysterious murder of her husband in their Denver home. All the doors were locked from inside, there is no sign of break-in, but her husband lies there, stabbed to death. The murder haunts the house, already a place of mourning after their son Anthony did not return from World War II. As a local detective struggles to pry apart the puzzle of the murder, Helen begins to see a ghost in her dead son's room. The killing isn't over.Writers: C.Avery & Maggie MilsteinVoice: Lauryn AllmanAudio: Dominic Gozo & Thomas Curry Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For Maeve DuVally, coming out as transgender in a corporate America was a journey of self-discovery that required her to hit rock bottom before she came out on top. This is her story. Journalist: Pamela RyckmanVoice: Jamie ClaytonAudio: Natalia Rodriguez & Dominic Gozo Our GDPR privacy policy was updated on August 8, 2022. Visit acast.com/privacy for more information.

Narrated by Steve Buscemi, this is the story of Gosnell Duncan and his many dicks. After being handicapped in a work-related accident, Gosnell was paralyzed from the waist down. A life-long lothario and passionate husband, Caribbean-born Gosnell used his engineering knowledge to craft a new invention: the world's first silicone dildo. His invention was intended for others too; specifically, he sought to bring pleasure to people with disabilities. Letters would come from all over the country with specific requests for his custom-made sex toys, letters telling Gosnell intimate secrets and hoping he could help. Despite the many obstacles — including laws that could send him to prison just for advertising his products — Gosnell changed the world, one dick at a time. This story brings overdue recognition for an inventor like no other.Journalist: Hallie LiebermanVoice: Steve BuscemiProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Oakland A's of the early 1970s were the most iconoclastic team in baseball history. Never before had a club so collectively traumatized baseball's establishment with its eccentric behavior and business decisions, not to mention its outlandish facial hair, while simultaneously setting records: five consecutive division titles and three straight championships. Yet despite all the winning, the drama that played out on the field was somehow exceeded by the drama in the clubhouse. There were fistfights between players on the regular. The one thing that kept the team from splintering was the fact that, as much as they might have loathed each other, they loathed the team's owner, Charlie Finley, even more... At least they had that much in common. In 1973, Finley pushed it too far, maneuvering to get a player off the team on false pretenses, uniting his team against him as the World Series hangs in the balance.Journalist: Jason TurbowVoice: Jud MeyersProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Inspired by the life and work of Leon Theremin, a Russian inventor whose most famous invention was the Theremin –– an instrument that produces otherworldly, haunting music, and which is played seemingly by magic. At the height of the Cold War, Theremin's passions for music and science drew him into dangerous territory: the price of pursuing his great passions would be to live his life as a spy. Writer: Michael LaPointeVoice: Gerard HowardProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Based on the life of Susanna Madora Salter. Narrated by Elle Fanning. Argonia, Kansas, 1887. Susanna Salter is baking bread when there's a knock at the door. She learns she's been nominated for the mayoral elections as a prank by some of the men of the town. After all, what could be funnier than the notion of a female leader? Nobody expected that serious, reserved Susanna would accept the nomination, let alone that she would be elected the first female mayor of the United States. Journalist: Olivia RutiglianoWriter: Maggie MilsteinVoice: Elle Fanning Production: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Alex Latifi, Iranian-born owner of a small parts factory in Alabama, loved by his workers, had been fulfilling military contracts for years, making parts cheaper and better than the competition. When he finds out his secretary has been embezzling money, he fires her. Embittered and vengeful, she tells the FBI that Latifi has been sending classified information to China. As Latifi fights to keep his factory open and his workers employed, a politically aggressive US attorney tries to bring him down: “We don't care if Latifi is innocent. Our goal is to put him out of business.”Journalist: Lynda EdwardsVoice: Sarah Elizabeth WallisProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Chevalier d'Eon is a brave army captain, a sparkling dinner companion –– and a spy in King Louis XV's secret service, tasked with planning an invasion of England from within London's highest social circles. But the French government, having no idea that the Chevalier is working for King Louis, plots to assassinate the charismatic diplomat, who only narrowly survives. When the scandal subsides, the Chevalier returns to France with a request: to be recognized as a woman. This is the story of one of the 18th century's most remarkable characters: the spy who dared to craft her own identity.Writer: Linda Rodriguez McRobbieProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Crime writer Diane Fanning was working on her first non-fiction book, spending time visiting and writing to a serial killer on death row. When Diane saw a case on the TV show 20/20 about a mother who was convicted of brutally murdering her 10-year-old son, she wrote about it in a letter to the convict. His letter back chilled her to the bone. He knew details about the case that only one person could have known...Journalist: Nile Cappello Narration: Maggie Robinson KatzAudio: Diane Hope & Evan Phillips See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

1943. While World War II rages, a different kind of battle takes over a British village in Lancashire where US troops are stationed. Throughout their service, Black American troops had faced daily bigotry and racism from their own countrymen. One night, the tension erupts into violence and the sleepy, unremarkable village of Bamber Bridge becomes a battleground between two Americas.This story contains explicit language and racial slurs. Listener discretion is advised.Writer: Brianna PorterJournalist: Ian LeslieVoice: Gregory Holmes JrProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Camels, sand storms, scorpions, and sand dunes towering like buildings—these are amongst Sidi's first ever memories. Raised in a nomadic tribe on the far edge of the Sahara desert, Sidi doesn't have a father like the other kids. He dreams of meeting him, even after his mom explains he's gone away to heaven, a journey from which he won't return. When Sidi discovers that many years ago a foreign documentary crew had visited the tribe, he sets out on a quest to recover this lost footage and see his father's face—a journey that takes him far from the only home he has ever known. Along the way, he begins to feel a lifeline connecting him to his father, Chighali, across distance, time, and memory.Journalist: Sahar ZandAudio: Evan Phillips See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

A deep-dive into Samantha Lewthwaite, the widow of one of London's 7/7 bombers and a notorious wanted criminal in the UK. A white woman from a nondescript town, Lewthwaite became the poster girl for radical Islam in the UK and garnered the reputation of being one of the most deadly terrorists in the world. As the tabloids grew greedy for sensational stories, the White Widow became their favorite villain and – perhaps – their favorite creation.Journalists: Alexandra Bradford & Samira ShackleVoice: Caroline FordProduction: Christopher HootonSpecial Thanks: Kieran Fitzgerald & Allison Friedman See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

As tensions over South Africa's white-owned farmland escalate, Midas Wanana and other Black residents take matters into their own hands, creating a new settlement on the edge of a white-owned vineyard. They call the settlement Azania, a precolonial name for South Africa. When the white farmer, Stefan Smit, is murdered in his own home, the finger is immediately pointed at the Black occupiers and tension in Azania reaches a boiling point, ultimately costing Wanana his life. But something isn't adding up. To catch the real perpetrator, detectives will need to look far closer to home. Journalist: Christopher ClarkVoice: Anele MatotiProduction: Christopher Hooton See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When brutal murders in the community push the Reverend to his limits, he knows he needs to reach the people at the heart of the violence. But as he walks the streets by night, his own son is out on those same streets, immersed in gang life and drug dealing, earning the nickname Little Killer.While the Reverend advocates for peace among drug addicts and gang members, the person he wants to save the most is the one who feels furthest out of reach: his son.Journalist: Danny GoldVoice: Marc SamuelAudio: Oluwakemi Aladesuyi & Evan Phillips See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This story contains potentially triggering subjects, including suicide, homophobia, physical violence, and misgendering.In 2015, an exceptional trial took place in Jerusalem. The body of transgender activist and beloved community leader May Peleg was held in police custody. May's request was that her ashes be divided in two: one half scattered into the sea, the other at the roots of an Illawarra Flame tree, a fiery red tree with both male and female blossoms. Meanwhile, her mother petitioned the courts, intending to ignore May's wishes and bury her in a traditional way, under the male name given to her at birth. This is a story inspired by her life and her legacy.If you or someone you know is suicidal, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255) or message the Crisis Text Line at 741741. You can also call the Trevor Project's free confidential suicide prevention service for LGBTQ youth at 1-866-488-7386. These programs provide free, confidential support 24/7.Writers: Rachel Chaya Zisser & Samantha NewtonJournalist: Naomi ZeveloffVoices: Muriel Naim & Roey Victoria HeifetzAudio and Original Music: Kyle Feehan See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

The Living Goddess follows Rashmila, who at four years old was taken from her family to become a goddess. She grew up in a palace, dressed always in red, believing she could heal the people who came to worship her. At twelve years old, her world turned upside down: she was cast out from the palace. It was time to become a mortal again.Journalist: Ada Petriczko Voice: Sohm KapilaAudio: Lauren Aurora Hutchinson & Charlie Brandon-King See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Lawyer, fraudster, and king of the party, Scott Rothstein had a gift––he could tell anyone's price. He used this gift to transform those around him into “players” in an incredibly lucrative game… transforming his law firm into a giant Ponzi scheme. With a cast of dirty cops, acquiescing employees, and thieving businessmen, Rothstein set the stage for the largest Ponzi scheme in Florida history and fourth-largest worldwide.Reported by: Bob Norman & Rich StoutVoice: Matt AddisAudio: Charlie Brandon-King See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This is the never before told story of the relationship between a prisoner—the ex-President of Iraq—and a young American soldier from Kansas City.Journalist: Michael WeissAudio: Ben Adair for Western Sound & Charlie Brandon-King See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

When the Taliban last ruled Afghanistan, playing an instrument could be punished by death, and yet Negin finds herself as conductor of all-female orchestra, stepping into a power she didn't know she had.Journalist: Sahar Zand Audio: Saskia EdwardsAdditional Music: Subat See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Cinematic true stories from the world's best journalists. Ground-breaking investigations, gripping narrative histories and touching personal triumphs. This is long-form audio journalism done differently — this is Paperless, an audio magazine from Vespucci. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.