logo
episode-header-image
Oct 2021
31m 7s

From Russia with diamonds: part 1

The Observer
About this episode
When Communism collapsed, a young man was tasked with selling Russia’s diamonds to the highest bidder. Then, he went on the run with $600m. He was missing for more than 20 years, until reporter Giles Whittell found him, last year. This is the riotous story of Golden Ada – the origin story of Russia's kleptocracy.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Up next
Yesterday
Paolo Zampolli: Trump’s matchmaker
Paolo Zampolli, the Italian modelling agent who introduced Donald Trump to his future wife, Melania, has gone from the 1990s fashion world to the very top of the Trump administration, joining the small circle of loyalists Trump likes to keep close to advance his brand and influen ... Show More
48m 9s
Aug 28
Why is electroconvulsive therapy still used?
Is ECT therapy safe? Postcode prescribing leaves patients at mercy of psychiatric opinions. Jessica Rawnsley has been investigating what this means for patients Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. 
23m 21s
Aug 25
My father, the vampire hunter
After a spate of paranormal sightings in 1970s London, debate raged over the existence of a vampire in Highgate Cemetery. Fifty years on, the legend has been taken on by a new generation, fuelled by the world’s longest-running online feudReporter: Francisco GarciaProducer: Poppy ... Show More
36m 27s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2024
310: Dennis Cosgrove - Russian Diamond Looters, Golden ADA
tail spinning
1h 33m
Nov 2022
Falling tsar? Russians eye life after Putin
<p>As President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine continues to falter, Russian elites are now daring to consider the once unthinkable: a life <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/10/26/russias-elite-begins-to-ponder-a-putinless-future?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.po ... Show More
23m 17s
Nov 2022
Falling tsar? Russians eye life after Putin
<p>As President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine continues to falter, Russian elites are now daring to consider the once unthinkable: a life <a href="https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/10/26/russias-elite-begins-to-ponder-a-putinless-future?utm_campaign=a.io&utm_medium=audio.po ... Show More
23m 17s
Jul 2022
Russian Oligarchs on the Run
While foreign correspondent Laura Haim is on assignment in Paris reporting on the effects of the war in Europe, she's also been following the story of a small coastal village in the South of France that's drawn Russians for years - and not just wealthy Russians, but some of the w ... Show More
31m 1s
Mar 2023
Wanted man
First: The International Criminal Court issues an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children to Russia.  Next: A harrowing look at the Iraq invasion 20 years on through the lens of an acclaimed photographer.  Then: An investigative journalist ... Show More
56m 10s
Oct 2024
The Spy Who Putin Poisoned | End of an Era | 1
When the USSR falls apart, GRU officer Sergei Skripal finds himself adrift in the new Russia, having never asked for the country's new democracy. So when he meets a shadowy wine dealer, he leaps at the chance to make some money, without a clue how the deal would lead him to Salis ... Show More
38m 49s
Jul 2022
The Russian Millionaire Driving Medicine to Ukraine
Once the richest man in Russia under 35, mobile phone tycoon Evgeny Chichvarkin explains why he needed to sell his company and escape Putin’s Russia in 2008. Settled in London, he’s now personally delivering aid to Ukraine.Organised crime expert Misha Glenny and the BBC Russian S ... Show More
34m 54s
Nov 2023
Introducing The Pirate of Prague | 11
A charming young Czech promises staggering returns. An entire country’s oil industry is up for grabs. America’s top investors want in. Sounds too good to be true? Damn right it is. This is a story of private jets, $20,000 dinners, and suitcases stuffed with cash. It’s also a tale ... Show More
33m 29s
Feb 2023
Next Year in Moscow: Trailer
When the shelling of Ukraine began a year ago, free-thinking Russians faced a fateful choice: lie low, resist or flee. Hundreds of thousands decided to leave. For them the war meant the future of Russia itself was now in doubt.The Economist's Arkady Ostrovsky finds out what happe ... Show More
3m 48s