At one point in the 1960s Air America was the largest carrier on the planet. It was also a CIA front, and its ragtag pilots ferried tons of raw opium up and down Laos during Washington’s “Secret War” against Communism.
This week’s show gets into the history of the illicit airline, and the corrupt officials, French mob and heroin-producing tribes who won big ... Show More
Jul 8
The Shaman-Gangsters Who Built Indonesia
For centuries, brigands, gangsters and street toughs ruled the island of Java so thoroughly that they were woven into local myths. But in the 20th century, when the world bounded towards war, mob bosses in Jakarta spotted a chance to turn underworld kudos into an independent nati ... Show More
1h 7m
Jun 24
Cocaine, Camorra, Call Girls: Maradona's Downfall
In 1987, Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona was on top of the world. He’d just handed his nation a World Cup, and his club side Napoli its first league title in over 60 years. But Maradona’s hard-partying lifestyle and underworld friends would soon take their toll - and before ... Show More
1h 9m
May 2020
3. America’s Secret Weapon
LAGOS, NIGERIA, 1961: One of America’s most beloved singers died without ever knowing that during the Cold War she had been used by the CIA. And a 40-year-old mystery resurfaces: when the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band was picked to tour behind the Iron Curtain in 1977, was an undercover ... Show More
45m 12s
Dec 2022
Presidential Assassinations | Three Shots in Dallas | 3
On November 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy was shot and killed while riding in his presidential limo through downtown Dallas. His violent and public death became one of the most traumatic moments in the nation’s history — and one of the most controversial, as Americans debated the mys ... Show More
38m 50s
Apr 2020
Pablo Escobar Part 1: Baptism of Fire
In the 1980s, a new generation of American special agents lands in Colombia, tasked with capturing the most infamous cocaine trafficker on the planet: Pablo Escobar. We’re embedded with the DEA as they track down a man who blows up commercial airplanes, bombs civilians and murder ... Show More
32m 46s
Jun 2018
The Disappearance of Korean Airlines Flight 007
In August of 1983, Korean Airlines flight 007 deviated off course and disappeared from radar. Some believe it was shot down by the Soviets. Others believe it was on a government spy mission. Korea, the US, and Japan all publicly demanded an investigation, but it would take ten ye ... Show More
1h 4m
May 2024
[Bande-annonce] - Histoire du trafic de drogue, la nouvelle saison de Criminels
Des guerres de l’opium à la naissance de la French Connection, des années hippies à l’ascension des grands barons de la drogue, d’Escobar à El Chapo, des montagnes afghanes à Wall Street, se dessine une histoire politique des drogues dans laquelle nous vous embarquons, à vos risq ... Show More
1m 17s