Fraudsters

In Part 2 of our Eric Adams deep-dive – Seena, Ariel, and Justin continue exploring how the former mayor (and current Albanian citizen) left the city with a $12 billion budget shortfall, led his entire team to federal indictments, and temporarily ended all racism with his cryptocurrency.

On the first Fraudwire of Season 6, Seena and Ariel delve into World Cup shadiness, some creative basketball player fraud, and Ken Paxton's bold pro-mistress voting record.

For our very last bonus episode of Season 5, we have an interview with Tommy and Paris Chong. And for the kids listening to the show, Tommy Chong is a Canadian-American comedian, actor, and activist, mostly known for his weed humor with comedian Cheech Marin and their classic stoner movies like Up in Smoke and Nice Dreams. In this interview, you’ll hear how Tommy got into comedy, what it was like for Paris to grow up as Tommy Chong’s son, and how they got into the business of selling bongs together, which of course led to Tommy’s arrest in 2003, as part of Operation Pipe Dreams. It’s a wild one, man!

Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law, Kris Henning, sat down with us over Zoom in the summer of 2024 to talk about the War on Drugs. She spoke about what led to her writing her book, “The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth,” how drug policies have affected kids in juvenile court and detention centers, the importance of language, and the role dehumanization plays in the War on Drugs.

This week, we’re talking all things drug policy, harm reduction, and the lingering effects of the War on Drugs with our special guest, Dr. Sheila Vakharia. Dr. Vakharia is the Deputy Director of Research and Academic Engagement at the Drug Policy Alliance, which is a fantastic organization that addresses the harms of drug use and drug criminalization through policy solutions, organizing, and public education. Dr. Vakharia is also a harm reductionist, social worker, and author of “The Harm Reduction Gap”. Listen as Dr. Vakharia shares stories from her book and personal experiences, including working at a Syringe Service Program and the challenges of advocating for harm reduction in a system designed to perpetuate stigma. And we take a look at what’s next: progressive decriminalization efforts, lessons from Oregon’s missteps, and how the average person can make a difference.

In the final episode of our series on the war on drugs, we take a look at the present and future of this crisis with some help from Montel Williams and Dr. Sheila Vakharia. Yasmin Cader (ACLU) and Kris Henning (Georgetown Law) return for a roundtable discussion to offer their insight on the current state of the war on drugs and offer a hopeful outlook. From policy failures to glimmers of reform, we wonder, where do we go from here? Stay tuned for bonus content with full interviews!

It’s the season finale of Fraudsters, and we’re reluctantly exploring the grim origins of America’s opioid crisis. From the Sackler family’s OxyContin empire, built on shameless marketing, fake science, and philanthropy-as-image-laundering, to John Kapoor’s Insys Pharmaceuticals, a scrappy underdog peddling fentanyl sprays, we unravel the fraud that fueled this epidemic. With half a million deaths, shattered communities, and contrasting fates for these corporate villains, it’s a class war in a pill bottle. Who paid the price—and who walked free?

Picture this: it’s the mid-'90s. Coolio’s Gangsta’s Paradise dominates the airwaves, and America’s crime hysteria is peaking. It’s the perfect time for a new villain to emerge: the “superpredator.” Tune in as we unravel the fear-mongering myth born from flawed statistics, Ivy League arrogance, and moral panic—spearheaded by Princeton professor John DiIulio. We explore how this theory intersected with the 1994 Crime Bill, fueling mass incarceration and devastating policies, with guests Kris Henning (Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic at Georgetown Law) and Yasmin Cader (Deputy Director at the ACLU). Through stories like Terrance Lewis’s—wrongfully imprisoned for 22 years—we reveal the human cost of a lie that reshaped America’s justice system.

This week we’re taking a step back to Miami, 1987. South Beach is buzzing, and the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) looks like any other bank—until you take a closer look. BCCI was no ordinary financial institution. It was a global hub for money laundering, arms deals, and shady alliances with everyone from Columbian drug lords to CIA operatives. In this episode, we unravel the rise and fall of BCCI, led by Agha Hasan Abedi. From secretive offshore accounts to "rent-a-face" deals with Arab monarchs, this was a bank that did it all...until it all fell apart. Tune in now to catch the full story!

We're not done with Reagan just yet! This week, we’re honing in on the crack epidemic and its devastating impact on Black communities. We unpack the 1980s shift in American politics, where Reagan's policies expanded Nixon's "War on Drugs" and utilized racially coded language to criminalize Black Americans. We’ve got expert guests, Yasmin Cader, Dr. Sheila Vakharia, and Professor Anne Foster on the show to talk through the anti-drug legislation that introduced harsh mandatory minimums and sentencing disparities, targeting crack cocaine users disproportionately over powdered cocaine users. Hmmm… I wonder why…. All that and we touch on the media’s role in sensationalizing the “crack epidemic,” Congress’s bipartisan support for punitive policies, and all of the devastating consequences of Reagan’s militarization of the War on Drugs.

In this episode, we’re diving deep into the art of linguistic manipulation with a profile on one of America’s most racist presidents: Richard Nixon. Last week, we covered how the war on drugs helped fuel a system of police corruption. This week, we’re looking at how Nixon used clever rhetoric and dog-whistle politics to push forward an agenda that has left a lasting impact in the US. We’re talking all things “Law and Order, ” “Southern Strategy,” and Black Capitalism. Tune in to hear how these phrases became instruments of control and deception– tools that are still in use today. It is just as horrific as it sounds!

In this week’s episode, we bring to life a 1970 panel discussion hosted by Playboy magazine, where key figures from law enforcement, academia, medicine, and counterculture clash over cannabis. The debate features Harry Anslinger (J-L Cauvin), William Burroughs (Jim Taylor), Baba Ram Dass (Grant Gordon), John Finlator (Holden McNeely), Joel Fort (Greg Carere), Alan Watts (Ryan Feyk), Joseph Oteri (Jack Stansbury), and our Playboy Moderator (Amber Nelson). They really get into it and address claims that cannabis causes psychosis, and talk through its religious significance, the spread of drug disinformation, and so much more. Alongside segments from the original Playboy conversation, Seena, Ariel, and Justin chime in with modern commentary, turns out this decades-old debate is still extremely relevant! Turn on, tune in, drop out!!

In this week’s episode, we dive deeper into the sick and twisted mind of George Hunter White. We’re talking Operation Midnight Climax and everything that led up to the CIA’s most disturbing experiments. And of course, this includes a primer on “Poisoner in Chief” Sidney Gottlieb, who also enjoyed conducting LSD experiments on unsuspecting patients. They sprayed harmful chemicals over San Francisco and dosed prisoners for months, permanently altering the lives of many, including the Unabomber. And that’s all before we even get to Operation Midnight Climax – a freaky experiment to study mind control and sex. Nothing pervy going on here…