The Rackets Podcast focuses on news related to organized crime. The subject matter isn't limited to traditional gangsters, such as drug cartels. The show also focuses heavily on white-collar criminals, including corrupt politicians, lobbyists, corporate criminals, crony capitalists, shady government officials, etc. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/rackets/support
This episode's guest is Michael Ames. He is an investigative reporter and book author based in Brooklyn, New York. After a decade working in media in southern Idaho, Ames moved east and shifted to national issues, writing mostly for the Daily Beast and Harper's and Newsweek magazines. His first book, American Cipher, which he co-authored with former US Army infantryman Matt Farwell, was published by Penguin Press in March.
In this interview, Michael set the record straight about this former soldier, along with the manner in which his capture was a pretext for many vested interests. Ames also demonstrated a variety of ways in which Bergdahl's exploited public image paralleled the endless war in Afghanistan.
This excellent and critically-acclaimed book, American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan, is available on Amazon, in Barnes and Noble, and all independent book stores.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/support(The audio for this episode isn't great. This issue will be corrected in the following episodes.)
The highlights include:
Censorship in Arizona's state prisons
Backlash against the maker of OxyContin and the heirs to the company's fortune
Racketeering by Big Pharma
Lindsey Graham's buffoonery
Central American Narco-State
Wasteful Military Spending
Former CIA Director's Ironic Choice of Words on Terrorism
Baltimore being held ransom by hackers using former tool of the NSA
(Image - Flickr - Jim Greenhill)
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportThis episode covers a range of topics including:
Robert Kraft's lawsuit
Possible Chinese espionage
A Federal Lawsuit involving Trump's Emolument Violations
Trump's Pay to Play System
A Number of Revolving Door Officials Finding High-Paying Work in the Private Sector
Boeing Whistleblowers
Foreign Lobbying
War Crimes
Bribery by Shell/ENI of Nigerian officials
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportLeon Lee is the Peabody Award winning director of the documentary film, Human Harvest. Lee explained that the Chinese government began persecuting a group known as Falun Gong in the 1990s. They can best be described as prisoners of conscious. Falun Gong practitioners have been tortured, harassed, falsely imprisoned, etc. And many of them have been executed with the sole purpose of selling their organs within the Chinese medical system. It's a subject that is so sinister that it's difficult to believe, but evidence provided by Lee and a few award-winning journalists demonstrate that this is a vile human catastrophe that needs much more international attention.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportThe latest episode covers a bribery scandal involving the UN's refugee agency, UNHCR, corporate drug pushers, Russian election interference in Madagascar, corrupt foreign and domestic officials, and much more.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportThis episode covers a range of topics. That includes the murder of the leader of the Gambino crime family, a break-in at the North Korean embassy in Spain, the international weapons racket, a hip-hop artist / credit card fraudster, cartel warfare and much more.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportNathan Smith is a former Army Captain and intelligence officer at the command headquarters in Kuwait. Notably, he filed a federal lawsuit in 2016 against the President of the U.S. challenging the legality of the war in Syria and Iraq. This was obviously a difficult decision to make, but it was ultimately a principled decision. Nathan's story illustrates the stunning lack of checks and balances in our government, along with systemic forces that keep our country in a perpetual state of war, and much more.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportThere were too many fascinating details from the trial of the world's most notorious criminal, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, to list. However, this episode breaks down many aspects of the Sinaloa cartel's structure, allies, foes, corrupt enablers, etc. There was so much to unravel, but here's a concise, yet jammed-packed wrap up of the most important drug trafficking conviction in American history.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/support
Richard Bronson is the CEO of 70 Million Jobs, which is the first for-profit recruitment company for people with criminal records. He worked at the infamous brokerage, Stratton Oakmont, which was portrayed in Martin Scorsese's “Wolf of Wall Street.” After serving 2 years in prison, Richard has dedicated his life and career to an underserved aspect of criminal justice reform, i.e. helping this massive segment of the population (70 million) gain employment.
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rackets/supportYour feedback is valuable to us. Should you encounter any bugs, glitches, lack of functionality or other problems, please email us on [email protected] or join Moon.FM Telegram Group where you can talk directly to the dev team who are happy to answer any queries.