Scammed By The State

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