Defrocked: There’s a Plagiarizing Pretend Parson on the Run
Robert Peters was almost none of the things he claimed to be. For decades, Peters moved all over the world, talking his way into universitie...
Radio and PodcastLive Radio & PodcastsSociety & Culture
Chameleon: Wild Boys
In 2003, two half-starved brothers emerged from the wilderness, telling an incredible story of survival. A small Canadian community took them in. The only problem? The boys weren't who they...
Episodes
20 of 54 episodesThe Rise and Fall of Michael Avenatti: An Anti-Trump Hero Who Flew Too Close to the Sun
In 2018, Michael Avenatti seemed to appear out of nowhere. A brash, flashy lawyer riding shotgun with the porn star Stormy Daniels as her al...
Program Pusher: A Trojan Horse Cult For Troubled Teens
When Esther was a teenager, her parents supported her in joining a group that promised to help her with her drug problem. She found a world...
The Problem Dog Whisperer: Too Good To Be True
Steffen Baldwin was a tattooed dog whisperer with an apparent gift for rehabilitating dangerous animals. He was a beloved local celebrity wi...
Jacob and the Lion: A Cult, A Gangster And A Billion Dollar Tax Fraud
Jacob Kingston wanted money, status and the approval of his family. Then he met a charismatic Armenian oil tycoon called The Lion. What bega...
The Four Mrs Wilsons: The Spy Thriller Author with a Real Life to Match
When Mike Shannon was nine years old, he was told that his father had died fighting the Germans at the Battle of El Alamein. Michael’s fathe...
REVISITED: The Undead Tour: How The Fake Zombies Fooled America
A British band called The Zombies had a smash hit single in America with ‘Time of the Season’ in the late 60s. Shortly afterwards, four hand...
A View To Deceive: An Artist Goes Undercover To Expose The Uber Rich
The views from New York's luxury high-rise apartments can be spectacular. And the higher up you go, the more exclusive, and expensive the pr...
The Artist of Cons: The Unbelievable but Totally Real Life of Milwaukee’s Most Interesting Man
As a teenager in Milwaukee, Art Rapkin became a hustler, karate champion and a fake Bob Dylan. Then he started smuggling cocaine, before end...
Lie in The Sky: Is Frank Abagnale Jr's story too good to be true?
Frank Abagnale Jr. became America's most famous con artist. He said he stole millions of dollars, posed as a pilot, a doctor and a lawyer, b...
Cultivated: The Self-Proclaimed Prophet Hiding In Plain Sight
"In the summer of 1991, a young woman walks into a police station in Ogden, Utah. She claims that just blocks away, amongst the manicured su...
The Archangel Made Me Do It: The French Mayor And The “Fortune Teller” Who Has His Ear
The mayor of an idyllic seaside town in France had seemingly fallen under the spell of a glamorous mystic who claimed she could speak to the...
Big Man on Campus: The Hoops Phenom Who Tried High School Twice
A promising high school basketball star seemed to appear out of nowhere—a talented homeless kid trying to rebuild his life after Hurricane H...
Going Places: The College Art Students Who Fooled a Nation
In the late 1990s, a group of art students from Leeds, England, announce a week in Spain as their latest “conceptual artwork” — and Britain’...
The Wannabe Pilot: Fish Swim, Birds Fly, and Randy Lies
His friends, family and a string of partners all believed a version of the same thing. That Randy was a former marine who now flew commercia...
For The Love Of Dogs: The Scam Shelters Abusing Animals For Clicks
A network of animal shelters in Uganda started posting heartbreaking videos of starving, mutilated dogs on social media, begging for donatio...
REVISITED: The Kid Who Couldn’t Stop Playing Cop
In 2009, Vincent Richardson walked into a Chicago police station and reported for duty. No one noticed he wasn’t actually a cop. No one noti...
Mother of All Stories Part 2: Mom On The Run
When Heidi Cloud was twelve years old, she became the first child in America to be sent to jail for refusing a court-ordered visit with her...
Mother of All Stories Part 1: A Daughter Falls Under A Spell
Heidi Cloud's childhood never stood a chance of being normal. A mother with a warped way of seeing the world keeps the family on the run and...
Mr 10 Percent: The Suburban Dad Who Fleeced Global Soccer
He rode a mobility scooter through Central Park with a parrot on his shoulder. He also helped pull off one of the biggest financial scams in...