Afterword: The Mockbuster

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 MAITALEDITING: THOMAS CURRYMUSIC, SCORING & SOUND-DESIGN: 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.