WEBVTT

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The Great American Hiding Spot. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,

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0. Welcome to the show, people. Welcome to the

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show. Eat my shorts. So here is to conversation.

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Tranquility base here. The Eagle has landed.

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Welcome to the Cash Exchange. Welcome. What's

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up? Not much. I am in between jobs for one more

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day. There was a little bit of a gap between

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actually fully going into my training with a

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new place. So I've had a couple of lazy days.

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How's that been going? Those can either be really

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productive or really unproductive. A little of

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both. I've gotten all of my chores done, but

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I also kind of feel like Ben Wyatt in Parks and

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Rec when he's unemployed. And so he spends two

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whole weeks making three seconds worth of stop

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motion. Well, hey, I guess that's better than

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what you could be doing. This is true. It's all

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about silver linings. How have you been? I've

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been pretty good. I just watched something I've

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been meaning to watch for a while. The Fly Me

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to the Moon with Scarlett Johansson and Channing

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Tatum. How was that? It was interesting. Part

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of me wanted it to go full bore into the whole

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moon landing was faked and this is how they did

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it. And they almost went there. They almost went

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there. They went right up to the line. And then

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they were like, ah, just kidding. They really

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went to the moon and they really got the footage

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from the moon. So much so that the third act,

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the whole plot was that government comes in and

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says, hey, we don't trust you to be able to pull

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this off. So you have everything set here to

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fake it. So as soon as we can switch the feeds,

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then we're just going to do the fake thing. That's

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what everyone's going to see. And then they're

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like, oh, no, we can't do that. We finally have

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a Scarlett Johansson. She's like, I finally have

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a conscience now. And so. She goes to undo everything

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that she did. And turns out that it was a good

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thing that they were using the actual footage

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because a cat came in and destroyed the fake

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footage and like the shot, the fake shot that

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they had. So it was just it was it was dumb.

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And then there was a lot of like meta references

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like she she had this this like really odd director.

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And she's like, man, should have got Kubrick.

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And then and then there's another part where

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Woody Harrelson was in it, too. He was the big

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CIA or the big government guy. And he said something

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along the lines of if this is faked and people

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find out, then NASA loses all credibility and

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and all that stuff. And we can't have the people

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thinking this was fake. It was just it was dumb.

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It was dumb. And the whole. The whole way they

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got around the, well, a whole bunch of people

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work here. Someone's going to snitch. Someone's

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going to say something. You can't keep everyone

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quiet. Was the only people that were allowed

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in the production were the director that Scarlett

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Johansson hired. Scarlett Johansson, her assistant.

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And then everyone else was going to be like FBI

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Secret Service type people. Okay. Who? I definitely

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have never, ever spilled the beans on anything

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before. And then at one point, the director brings

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in his own lighting guy and he just he just strolls

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in. He's like, how'd you get in here? This is

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top secret. And he's like, I just walked through

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the front door. So all in all, it had a six point

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six on IMDb. And that's probably about what I'd

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give it if it had the balls to go there to actually

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say, yeah, it was faked. And this is how they

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would have done it. then I would have rated it

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much higher, but they didn't. Think the director

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would have gotten punched in the face by Buzz

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Aldrin? I had no idea he was still alive. Emily

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and I were talking about it, and I knew that

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Neil Armstrong had died. I knew that Michael

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Collins was dead, but I had no idea that Buzz

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Aldrin was still around kicking it. Yeah. He

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lives in Texas, right? Or was that Lance Armstrong?

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Or Neil Armstrong? Wrong Armstrong. I did the

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same thing. I did the same thing when we were

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talking about it. I don't know. I have no clue.

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I just know that he's a curmudgeon. Which I mean,

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if people go around saying that your greatest,

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the greatest accomplishment in your life was

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all fake, then I can kind of see where he's coming

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from. But still. Yeah. Or in the case that it

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was faked, which I'm very much not saying that

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it was, you've been defending this. narrative

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for so long that I think at some point you got

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to get especially feisty with it. I'm sure that

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we're going to make a real statement. Having

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to keep that secret. You know, I don't know what

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I thought Fly Me to the Moon was about, but I

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thought it was a rom -com, not an actual movie

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about the moon landing. In a roundabout way.

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I mean, it starts to attractive people, so they

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obviously get together at the end. I imagined

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it in more of a like. It's based on the Frank

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Sinatra song and not the celestial body. Well,

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what is Frank Sinatra talking about? What metaphorical

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moon would he be referring to? You know, I don't

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have an answer for that one, but I thought it

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was a reference to the song which references

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the celestial body, not a song about the thing

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or a movie about the thing directly. It does

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get a lot of airplay. And the song. And it's

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over the end credits. So. But it's not the Frank

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Sinatra version. It's a female singing it. Okay.

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I have never actually been able to listen to

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Sinatra. And I blame Olive Garden for it. Because

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their entire. Like soundtrack at Olive Garden.

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Is just bad covers of. It's Amore. Sinatra music.

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Well it's not even It's Amore. It's the. If you've

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heard how many times they've played. Like Fly

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Me to the Moon or My Way and stuff like that.

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It sounds like a discount version of either Frank

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Sinatra or Michael Bublé. It wears on you. There

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is something. There is a country. I want to say

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it's like Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam. I don't

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know. Somewhere in that area. Where there is

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some sort of reputation associated with the song

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My Way. And it's gotten people killed before.

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Okay. I think it was a Mr. Ballin story. Dude

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sang it at karaoke and then was immediately taken

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out. You should look into it. You should look

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into it. It's full of intrigue. Oh, boy. It was

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hard to come up with a... Pick one of our topics

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for this episode. Okay. I don't know if you've

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kept up lately. There's a lot of stuff going

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on in the world. There is too much stuff going

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on in the world. I re -downloaded TikTok because

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I wanted to look for something specific. And

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I am going to uninstall it again tonight. Oh,

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my God. That was intense. Just learn some self

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-control. Yeah, that is why I uninstall it. You're

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hot and cold. You're yes and you're no. Speaking

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of astronauts. The headlines have been absolute

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insanity this week. Yeah. Housekeeping from a

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former episode. Did you see that she find all

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that stuff went to trial? And it turns out that

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the house was actually bought in Orlando Bloom's

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name. I didn't know that. He owns the corporation

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that's named after their daughter that actually

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bought the house. Huh. So this is getting muddy.

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If I were him, I would throw her under the bus

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so hard. They're not together anymore. Are they

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divorced now? Okay. I was about to say I knew

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they were separated, but I didn't know if they

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were actually. No, I think it's FBO. I think

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it's Facebook official. Oh, not not in its complicated

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situation anymore. Unfortunate. Oh, my God. What

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a such a pick me thing to put on your Facebook.

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Silly. All right. You ready for these three?

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The three things. The three. Yeah, completely.

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unrelated to any news story that is happening

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right now things. I don't like this lead in,

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but what do you got for me? All right. You got

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pyramids. You got the Eiffel Tower. You got online

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dating. I'm going to need you to pick three different

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things. Oh, my God. The pyramids. Yes. The Eiffel

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Tower. Yes. Online dating. Yes, ma 'am. My first

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thought was things that are smaller in person.

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I feel like the thing about online dating is

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men are notoriously like, I'm 6 '2". And they

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show up and they're short kings. There's no shame

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in being 5 '4". But you can't be mad that somebody

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is upset. that you claimed you were 10 inches

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taller than you actually are. But what if you

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live your entire life with platform shoes on?

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The Tom Cruise defense. And you don't know a

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life where you aren't 6 '2 because you have 8

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-inch lifts. What about that? How do 8 -inch

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lifts? How do you go about your day -to -day

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life with that? Yeah. How do you do that? You

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can't drive a car. Practice. Why not? I don't

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think that angle makes any kind of sense. If

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me being 6 '1 can drive a car, why can't someone

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who has that extra length just at the end of

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their shoe drive a car? Are your feet eight inches

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thick? No, but it's funny you mention that because

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you know what is. What? My heart. That feels

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too thick. His heart grew three sizes that day.

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And he immediately had to go to the ER. He died,

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actually. Quite unfortunate. Also, one last thing.

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Would you be showering or bathing in these platform

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shoes? Do you not Do you not take them off and

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accept your real height when you're trying to

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get clean? I imagine it being like a Tobias Funke

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situation. So instead of a never nude, he's a

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never short. Huh. Okay. So he is devised a way

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in order to live this life despite his shortcomings.

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Boo! Okay. But you are on the right track with

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online dating. You just have to find a way to

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weave in the other two. So it is about lying

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on your dating profile? Yes. I mean, the way

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I have it tied in, it's more of a broader thing.

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But essentially, when you boil it down, that

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is, yeah, it's lying on a dating profile. Okay.

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Online dating. The Eiffel Tower and the... Can

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I get a hint? Is there a fourth one that you

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were maybe waffling between? Yeah, but it would

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have given it away. I could tweak it a little

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bit and say, tell you Bernie. So if you had four

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things, it would be pyramids, Eiffel Towers,

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online dating, Bernie. That makes me feel like

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it's an old thing. I mean. My fun fact for this

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episode is a very old fact. But maybe if you,

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instead of thinking of the pyramid as like a

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three -dimensional shape, just take 2D, a 2D

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pyramid. You mean a triangle? Which is a triangle.

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Yes. Pyramid made it sound more mysterious. Is

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this an Illuminati episode? Eiffel Tower. No,

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no, we're not there yet. We're not cancel proof

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yet. Damn it. Is anyone canceled proof? Okay.

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So Ernie. There's your bonus. Yeah. In 2D. So.

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Yeah, I don't know. Okay. Well, since you're

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thrown in the towel. Schemes and scams. Pyramid

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schemes. The Eiffel Tower. Being sold twice.

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Online dating. Bernie Madoff, not Sanders. Yes.

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See, if I had said Madoff, you would have known

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what I was talking about. Yep. There we go. All

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right. So schemes and scams. Schemes and scams.

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All right. Do you know what is most accepted

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as the first scam? That has ever been written

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in history enough to where present day people

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would be able to recount what happened. I mean,

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I feel like you could maybe go like the snake

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oil salesman route where there was just traveling

00:15:29.399 --> 00:15:36.139
shows of nonsense fixals. Yeah. Yeah. You can

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go back even farther than that. People trying

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to sell. Like the Brooklyn Bridge and all of

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that kind of stuff? Well, this actually took

00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:50.879
place in 300 B .C. Oh, I'm not going nearly far

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enough back. Okay. And it was two fellows named

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Hegastratos and Xenostimus. Okay. And they had

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a ship. The ship carried cargo from one place

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to the other. They were based out of Greece.

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They took out what equates to a loan to finance

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the trip with the ship as collateral. And so

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how it would work is that you would be at your

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port city. You'd say, hey, I need the money for

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this trip. They'd say, okay, we will give you

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this amount of money. You pay us this plus interest

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upon whenever you're expected to arrive there.

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And we're square. What these fellas did is they

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took the bottomry, is what they're called, and

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went on their merry way, started sailing out,

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and almost immediately decided to, you know what

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we're going to do? We're just going to sink this

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bitch. We're going to take the money and run.

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In the process of trying to sink their boat,

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they were caught. And Hegestratos drowned trying

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to escape. And the other one got caught. And

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there was no record of what happened to him afterwards.

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But I'm sure it was not good. Would not imagine.

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But that is one of the first instances in written

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history of someone trying to pull a scam. And

00:17:29.970 --> 00:17:34.609
it was an insurance scam. Huh. That is... I would

00:17:34.609 --> 00:17:36.819
not have guessed that. Yeah. I wouldn't either

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until I started researching this. I'm just curious

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how far back our flawed human senses have been

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around. And now we know it's at least 300 BC.

00:17:50.859 --> 00:17:53.799
Learn something new every day. So when you think

00:17:53.799 --> 00:17:58.559
of a scam, a scheme, what do you think of? What's

00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:01.019
the first thing that comes to mind? I think of

00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:07.599
pyramid schemes in the Amway. Kind of way. Cutco.

00:18:07.740 --> 00:18:12.480
Or the Mary Kay. Yeah, Cutco. Tupperware. What's

00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:17.680
the one with like the vitamins and stuff? I went

00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.420
to school with a girl who was a sales rep for

00:18:19.420 --> 00:18:23.960
them and I don't remember. Pyramid schemes, they

00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.759
can be really dressed up to where you don't realize

00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.740
it's a pyramid scheme until you're well in it.

00:18:30.299 --> 00:18:35.440
Yeah. But I will also. say in pyramid schemes

00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:39.059
defense is you get to reconnect with friends

00:18:39.059 --> 00:18:42.960
you haven't heard from in 20 years when they

00:18:42.960 --> 00:18:45.859
reach out to you on facebook and say hey girl

00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:50.559
uh how's it going it's been a while have you

00:18:50.559 --> 00:18:54.599
heard about yeah yeah and for the record my notes

00:18:54.599 --> 00:18:57.660
start out as with hey girl because i don't have

00:18:57.660 --> 00:19:00.559
a facebook that's disappointing so oh but they

00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:02.359
would start out with hey girl if you did have

00:19:02.359 --> 00:19:05.549
a facebook It's more of a method of contacting

00:19:05.549 --> 00:19:10.630
you than a using the wrong gender here? Maybe.

00:19:10.730 --> 00:19:12.970
I don't know. I don't know. It's not worth getting

00:19:12.970 --> 00:19:15.049
a Facebook to find out. I can tell you that much.

00:19:15.069 --> 00:19:19.910
That is an absolute fact. I've already did a

00:19:19.910 --> 00:19:24.970
soft ban on TikTok recently. Yeah? Yeah. Given

00:19:24.970 --> 00:19:26.509
all the craziness, it makes sense. Spent a lot

00:19:26.509 --> 00:19:29.009
more time on Twitter on X, though, which definitely

00:19:29.009 --> 00:19:32.559
is not a good trade -off. Because people are

00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:36.480
a lot more opinionated on X than they are on

00:19:36.480 --> 00:19:43.140
TikTok. But, you know, it is what it is. So,

00:19:43.140 --> 00:19:49.380
grandfather of the modern day pyramid scheme.

00:19:50.059 --> 00:19:56.880
I don't know if pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes

00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:00.079
are really... Like they have a lot of similarities,

00:20:00.119 --> 00:20:02.839
but I don't know if they're enough to be the

00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:05.539
same thing. Can you explain to me what a Ponzi

00:20:05.539 --> 00:20:07.720
scheme is? Because I don't know that I know the

00:20:07.720 --> 00:20:09.099
difference. I can tell you. I always thought

00:20:09.099 --> 00:20:10.480
they were kind of interchangeable. I can tell

00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.039
you all about Charles Ponzi. He was an Italian

00:20:13.039 --> 00:20:17.099
immigrant who became infamous in the 1920s for

00:20:17.099 --> 00:20:19.920
inventing the high yield investment fraud that

00:20:19.920 --> 00:20:23.119
now bears his name. It is pretty cool that it's

00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:28.660
named after him. It is. His scam based on the

00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:32.859
supposed purchase of international postal reply

00:20:32.859 --> 00:20:39.259
coupons, which I think were like stamps, something

00:20:39.259 --> 00:20:43.579
like or like bonds, maybe. OK. I couldn't really

00:20:43.579 --> 00:20:48.440
get it was it was above my financial literacy

00:20:48.440 --> 00:20:56.109
ability. And promised investors returns of. Around

00:20:56.109 --> 00:21:00.789
50 % in 45 days. Today, if someone offers you

00:21:00.789 --> 00:21:06.529
a 50 % increase in any investment that you make

00:21:06.529 --> 00:21:09.490
in a short amount of time, in really any amount

00:21:09.490 --> 00:21:12.789
of time, if they say, I can tell you that you

00:21:12.789 --> 00:21:16.769
give me $100, give me a month and a half, boom,

00:21:16.910 --> 00:21:23.470
you got $150 now. That's a scam. Do not give

00:21:23.470 --> 00:21:27.789
them your money. Say, hey, here you go. Let's

00:21:27.789 --> 00:21:30.269
test it out. Oh, my God, it worked. Here's my

00:21:30.269 --> 00:21:34.069
life savings. Don't do that. OK. There's a little

00:21:34.069 --> 00:21:41.289
cash exchange PSA. Sure. A CEPSA. But what made

00:21:41.289 --> 00:21:44.410
it what we know of now as a Ponzi scheme is that

00:21:44.410 --> 00:21:48.569
he would be robbing Peter to pay Paul. You know

00:21:48.569 --> 00:21:52.680
what that phrase means? Yeah. So he would get

00:21:52.680 --> 00:21:54.799
his initial investors. They would give him X

00:21:54.799 --> 00:21:58.019
amount of dollars. And then he would say, OK,

00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:02.660
I will give you this return at this in this amount

00:22:02.660 --> 00:22:09.559
of time. And so what he does is he will take

00:22:09.559 --> 00:22:12.460
that money and go find new people and say, hey,

00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:16.920
I will give you X amount of dollars return in

00:22:16.920 --> 00:22:19.490
your investment in this amount of days. They

00:22:19.490 --> 00:22:23.089
give him money. He pays off the first guy. And

00:22:23.089 --> 00:22:26.549
then he just keeps going and going down the line.

00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:29.730
So the people at the beginning get their money

00:22:29.730 --> 00:22:32.150
and then word of mouth spreads. And then they're

00:22:32.150 --> 00:22:34.130
like, hey, this guy is great. He's a genius.

00:22:34.230 --> 00:22:37.289
He knows exactly what he's doing. And so it just

00:22:37.289 --> 00:22:39.809
spreads like wildfire through all these people.

00:22:39.869 --> 00:22:43.470
And this was the 1920s. So you got world wars

00:22:43.470 --> 00:22:47.089
in there. You got Great Depression. You got everything

00:22:47.089 --> 00:22:49.980
going on. People were strapped for cash. So the

00:22:49.980 --> 00:22:51.799
little bit of money they had, they were given

00:22:51.799 --> 00:22:55.240
to this guy because they had learned, they had

00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:58.559
been told by people that they trusted that this

00:22:58.559 --> 00:23:00.440
works, this system works, whatever he's doing,

00:23:00.480 --> 00:23:04.759
it's like magic. That is deeply depressing. Yeah.

00:23:05.359 --> 00:23:13.039
And it only lasted eight months. He made, at

00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.660
the time, the 1920s, he was making millions of

00:23:15.660 --> 00:23:20.150
dollars a week. And just dollars like actual

00:23:20.150 --> 00:23:22.430
millions of dollars by that standard or by standards

00:23:22.430 --> 00:23:26.150
by by their standards, millions of dollars a

00:23:26.150 --> 00:23:30.910
week. So now unbelievable amounts of money and

00:23:30.910 --> 00:23:36.730
had no shame in hiding it. If people came came

00:23:36.730 --> 00:23:40.369
a knocking, then he would just ignore it. And

00:23:40.369 --> 00:23:43.569
eventually they would just give up. But then

00:23:43.569 --> 00:23:49.839
it got so much that. People, whenever word spread

00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:53.359
that, hey, something's not right here, all these

00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.380
people started coming in and demanding their

00:23:55.380 --> 00:23:58.440
money back. And then he ended up getting arrested.

00:23:58.460 --> 00:24:00.980
He got charged with multiple counts of mail fraud

00:24:00.980 --> 00:24:04.839
and served 10 years in prison. And then he was

00:24:04.839 --> 00:24:10.839
deported to Italy. Afterwards, he attempted to

00:24:10.839 --> 00:24:13.779
he came back into the U .S. He tried to start

00:24:13.779 --> 00:24:16.690
another Ponzi scheme in Florida. And he was caught.

00:24:17.450 --> 00:24:20.509
And then he got deported back to Italy again

00:24:20.509 --> 00:24:24.210
and then moved down to Brazil and died with nothing

00:24:24.210 --> 00:24:28.349
to his name in 1949. Charles Ponzi, the namesake

00:24:28.349 --> 00:24:32.589
for the Ponzi scheme. That is a fun little bit

00:24:32.589 --> 00:24:35.829
of trivia. So we talked about Charles Ponzi.

00:24:35.869 --> 00:24:40.190
Now we talk about the one who brought Ponzi schemes

00:24:40.190 --> 00:24:47.789
into the 21st, 20th, 21st century. 20th, right?

00:24:48.630 --> 00:24:51.069
No, 21st. I don't really know how long ago. It

00:24:51.069 --> 00:24:54.410
was both. It was both because, I mean, he'd been

00:24:54.410 --> 00:24:59.890
doing it for a long, long, long time. That man

00:24:59.890 --> 00:25:06.470
is Bernie Madoff, who just recently died in prison,

00:25:06.670 --> 00:25:10.470
I want to say two years ago. I don't remember.

00:25:10.529 --> 00:25:12.789
It wasn't that long ago. That's a lot more recent

00:25:12.789 --> 00:25:14.750
than I thought. I'm pretty sure. I can double

00:25:14.750 --> 00:25:19.299
check. Unlike Buzz Aldrin, I know that he's dead.

00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:23.740
2021, four years ago. Unlike Buzz Aldrin, you

00:25:23.740 --> 00:25:26.059
know that he's dead? I know that Bernie Madoff

00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:29.000
is dead. Do we not know that Buzz Aldrin is alive?

00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:34.640
Oh, you do. No, we do. Yes. Yes, I knew that

00:25:34.640 --> 00:25:38.680
Bernie Madoff had died. I thought that Buzz Aldrin

00:25:38.680 --> 00:25:42.000
was dead. Buzz Aldrin is still alive. Bernie

00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:46.819
Madoff is still, in fact, dead. He Bernie Madoff

00:25:46.819 --> 00:25:52.480
honestly put Charles Ponzi's the namesake of

00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:57.339
the Ponzi scheme to shame with his shenanigans.

00:25:57.539 --> 00:26:03.740
He was touted as like one of the greatest investors

00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:08.240
of all time and like very like people you would

00:26:08.240 --> 00:26:11.839
be surprised names that you definitely know gave.

00:26:12.509 --> 00:26:16.089
this man so much money and couldn't see the writing

00:26:16.089 --> 00:26:19.910
on the wall that something ain't jiving. Can

00:26:19.910 --> 00:26:22.529
you give me an example in that? The names that

00:26:22.529 --> 00:26:23.950
I would recognize? Because I don't know a ton

00:26:23.950 --> 00:26:29.190
about the Enron situation. I know it was a massive

00:26:29.190 --> 00:26:32.490
scandal that blew up. Enron is different from

00:26:32.490 --> 00:26:37.170
Bernie Madoff. Was it? Uh -huh. Yeah, I got Enron

00:26:37.170 --> 00:26:40.529
in here later. Spoiler alert. I always equated

00:26:40.529 --> 00:26:43.910
the two things. Yeah, I mean, they both were

00:26:43.910 --> 00:26:49.809
around the same time. Okay. Some of the more

00:26:49.809 --> 00:26:58.490
famous ones. Zsa Zsa Gabor. Okay. Steven Spielberg's,

00:26:58.490 --> 00:27:02.910
one of his foundations. Kevin Bacon and Keira

00:27:02.910 --> 00:27:09.710
Sedgwick. Okay. Larry King. John Malkovich. Jeffrey

00:27:09.710 --> 00:27:14.180
Katzenberg. Of DreamWorks fame? I don't know.

00:27:14.460 --> 00:27:16.640
Oh, okay. Never mind. Yeah, him and Steven Spielberg

00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:19.240
started DreamWorks. I didn't know that Spielberg

00:27:19.240 --> 00:27:24.940
started DreamWorks. Mm -hmm. Yeah, I think that

00:27:24.940 --> 00:27:29.720
Jeffrey Katzenberg had something to do with Disney,

00:27:29.859 --> 00:27:33.240
and he had some ideas, and they were like, yeah,

00:27:33.259 --> 00:27:36.480
no, we're good. And then he just was like, okay,

00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:38.319
see ya, and then went and started a competing

00:27:38.319 --> 00:27:42.819
animation studio. That's why one of their OG

00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:44.940
movies, the one that they're definitely most

00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:47.019
known for is just one big screw you to Disney.

00:27:47.960 --> 00:27:53.740
Yeah, sure. Yeah. So, yeah, I mean, that's just

00:27:53.740 --> 00:27:59.420
a taste of the list. But, I mean, there were

00:27:59.420 --> 00:28:05.640
anyone could contact, get in contact with them

00:28:05.640 --> 00:28:09.910
and could be set up and all of a sudden. promises

00:28:09.910 --> 00:28:14.630
are made for the upper echelon people promises

00:28:14.630 --> 00:28:19.430
were kept for a little while and then uh yeah

00:28:19.430 --> 00:28:21.589
then it all fell apart because that's the thing

00:28:21.589 --> 00:28:23.529
ponzi schemes eventually you run out of people

00:28:23.529 --> 00:28:27.470
that you can get the money from and then it just

00:28:27.470 --> 00:28:29.630
you don't you can't pay the earlier people and

00:28:29.630 --> 00:28:32.470
then it just all collapses on itself i feel like

00:28:32.470 --> 00:28:35.359
i remember seeing something A while ago that

00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:37.640
said that you would only be able to do like 13

00:28:37.640 --> 00:28:42.440
rounds or something incredibly small worth of

00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:44.400
a pyramid scheme before it just took over the

00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:49.359
entire population of the world. Yeah, I mean,

00:28:49.359 --> 00:28:53.859
he kept this going for decades and it wasn't

00:28:53.859 --> 00:28:58.359
until December 2008. The authorities stepped

00:28:58.359 --> 00:29:03.259
in and and really took a look at everything.

00:29:04.600 --> 00:29:08.460
The reason it was in December of 2008 is because

00:29:08.460 --> 00:29:12.660
that's when the 2008 financial crisis happened.

00:29:12.859 --> 00:29:15.640
And then all of a sudden, everyone was real concerned

00:29:15.640 --> 00:29:19.660
with where their money was going, really balancing

00:29:19.660 --> 00:29:22.519
their checkbooks over and over to make sure there

00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:25.579
wasn't any bleed out because no one was having

00:29:25.579 --> 00:29:28.759
a good time then, especially financially. He

00:29:28.759 --> 00:29:32.500
ends up going to trial, gets found guilty. You

00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:35.140
want to guess what his sentence was? What? 150

00:29:35.140 --> 00:29:39.920
years. Wow. That's actually pretty impressive

00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:43.420
for a crime of that nature. Usually those people

00:29:43.420 --> 00:29:47.400
get let off very easy. It's estimated that he

00:29:47.400 --> 00:29:54.519
swindled around $65 billion from people. And

00:29:54.519 --> 00:29:57.400
I mean, even for Charles Ponzi making millions

00:29:57.400 --> 00:29:59.880
a week in the 1920s, that's nothing compared

00:29:59.880 --> 00:30:04.220
to making 65 billion dollars now. That is incredible.

00:30:04.460 --> 00:30:07.579
How long did he how long was the scheme running?

00:30:08.359 --> 00:30:12.859
Decades. I didn't get the first one that they

00:30:12.859 --> 00:30:16.539
were able to to pin to him, but it was definitely

00:30:16.539 --> 00:30:22.119
it was decades, probably starting in mid 70s,

00:30:22.119 --> 00:30:26.210
80s. Oh, it goes back all the way to 2008. I

00:30:26.210 --> 00:30:32.750
think so. That is completely horrific and incredible.

00:30:33.869 --> 00:30:36.109
Not in a good way, obviously, but that's to get

00:30:36.109 --> 00:30:38.569
away with it for that long. Yeah, that's pretty.

00:30:38.630 --> 00:30:42.509
It's something. There's a Carl Shapiro listed

00:30:42.509 --> 00:30:45.630
on here. I've seen if he was related to Benjamin.

00:30:46.549 --> 00:30:51.670
I don't think he is. That's a fairly common last

00:30:51.670 --> 00:30:58.190
name. Yeah. But again, it everyone 2008 hit.

00:30:58.529 --> 00:31:00.490
Everyone came a knock and saying, hey, I need

00:31:00.490 --> 00:31:03.970
my money back because, you know, I lost my job

00:31:03.970 --> 00:31:08.710
or I had to foreclose on my house. And if you

00:31:08.710 --> 00:31:10.829
haven't, make sure you check out the big short

00:31:10.829 --> 00:31:15.690
fantastic movie about the entire 2008 housing

00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:20.130
market crash. And then when they realized that,

00:31:20.190 --> 00:31:23.700
hey, there was no money. to take, then that's

00:31:23.700 --> 00:31:27.019
when the authorities got involved. And just like,

00:31:27.019 --> 00:31:32.259
uh, just like our friend Charlie, uh, ended up

00:31:32.259 --> 00:31:36.019
getting the book thrown at him. For the first

00:31:36.019 --> 00:31:38.480
time, there was not money in the banana stand.

00:31:39.559 --> 00:31:45.380
Nope. Cause it was given to, uh, the other, the

00:31:45.380 --> 00:31:48.500
first banana stand. And then you're going to

00:31:48.500 --> 00:31:51.450
get the third banana stands money. And so on

00:31:51.450 --> 00:31:55.549
and so forth. Sounds like a good idea to me.

00:31:56.430 --> 00:32:01.809
Yeah, well, give it a shot. Give it a shot. If

00:32:01.809 --> 00:32:04.109
Ponzi could make it eight months, Bernie could

00:32:04.109 --> 00:32:07.890
make it decades, shoot for a century. I mean,

00:32:07.990 --> 00:32:12.269
I don't know that I've got a century left to

00:32:12.269 --> 00:32:17.329
play with. Anyways, what do you know about the

00:32:17.329 --> 00:32:21.019
Eiffel Tower? Can you give me three fun facts?

00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:26.019
Okay. I know nothing about the Eiffel Tower.

00:32:28.180 --> 00:32:31.059
Which imitator do you think is better? The one

00:32:31.059 --> 00:32:33.539
in Vegas or the one in Paris, Texas with the

00:32:33.539 --> 00:32:37.339
cowboy hat on it? I mean, my heart has to go

00:32:37.339 --> 00:32:40.940
to the Texan one, but I stayed in the Eiffel

00:32:40.940 --> 00:32:46.680
Tower in Vegas. It was... It was fine. It was

00:32:46.680 --> 00:32:49.940
it was a decent hotel for being on the strip.

00:32:51.740 --> 00:32:57.339
Yeah. Middle child. We were talking about she

00:32:57.339 --> 00:33:01.980
saw a giant antenna and she said, that's the

00:33:01.980 --> 00:33:05.519
Eiffel Tower of Texas. I was like, no, no, it's

00:33:05.519 --> 00:33:07.880
not because we have an actual Eiffel Tower. What?

00:33:08.680 --> 00:33:13.480
We have to go see it. And then she said and I

00:33:13.480 --> 00:33:15.609
said, yeah, we can go see it. Maybe sometime.

00:33:15.930 --> 00:33:18.250
And she was like, unless there's nothing else

00:33:18.250 --> 00:33:20.250
to do there, if it's just the Eiffel Tower, then

00:33:20.250 --> 00:33:23.190
we don't need to go. And I said, it's just the

00:33:23.190 --> 00:33:25.509
Eiffel Tower. There's nothing else to do in Paris,

00:33:25.650 --> 00:33:30.289
Texas. Oh. Okay, never mind then. I said, but

00:33:30.289 --> 00:33:33.710
we could see it like passing through, going somewhere

00:33:33.710 --> 00:33:40.150
else. Yeah. I think you should instill a knowledge

00:33:40.150 --> 00:33:44.440
of Route 66 in your middle child. Because she

00:33:44.440 --> 00:33:47.640
could, with her love of the biggest ball of twine

00:33:47.640 --> 00:33:51.720
in Minnesota, she could very easily turn that

00:33:51.720 --> 00:33:53.960
passion into wanting to see the world's largest

00:33:53.960 --> 00:33:56.759
catsup bottle, which is in somewhere that I was

00:33:56.759 --> 00:34:02.220
recently. I think. I feel like I... Next time

00:34:02.220 --> 00:34:04.019
we go to Albuquerque, we're going to stop at

00:34:04.019 --> 00:34:09.360
the world's largest pistachio. I'm sorry, what?

00:34:10.099 --> 00:34:14.420
That's the world's largest pistachio. It's not

00:34:14.420 --> 00:34:17.239
in Las Vegas, New Mexico, but it's somewhere

00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:22.820
in that area. Las Cruces? Is there a Las Vegas,

00:34:22.840 --> 00:34:27.679
New Mexico? There is, yeah. Also, yeah, the largest

00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:29.559
bottle of cats up in Collinsville, Illinois.

00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:39.380
I am a sucker for a roadside attraction. Me too.

00:34:40.059 --> 00:34:42.380
They're just nonsense. And I think it is one

00:34:42.380 --> 00:34:44.059
of the coolest things about humanity. Alamogordo.

00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:47.739
Nah, I should have known that. It's an Alamogordo.

00:34:48.880 --> 00:34:54.199
Alamogordo. Okay. And if you head west from here,

00:34:54.340 --> 00:34:59.219
heading towards the ABQ, you're going to be stopping

00:34:59.219 --> 00:35:01.099
through Alamogordo and you can stop and see the

00:35:01.099 --> 00:35:05.500
world's largest pistachio. Is this a naturally

00:35:05.500 --> 00:35:11.719
occurring pistachio? Was it a... Is it a memorialization?

00:35:12.719 --> 00:35:15.500
Is it the largest statue of a pistachio? What

00:35:15.500 --> 00:35:18.679
are we talking about? It is as natural as plaster

00:35:18.679 --> 00:35:22.320
can be. That's disappointing. I was really hoping

00:35:22.320 --> 00:35:25.880
this was one of those largest pumpkin situations,

00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:28.539
but maybe they cast it in resin so it didn't

00:35:28.539 --> 00:35:31.840
get gross over time. Can you imagine how hard

00:35:31.840 --> 00:35:34.619
it would be to open the world's largest pistachio?

00:35:35.860 --> 00:35:39.559
It'd be like Fort Knox. Would it be harder or

00:35:39.559 --> 00:35:42.940
easier to open the world's largest pistachio?

00:35:43.380 --> 00:35:46.179
Have you tried to open a regular -sized pistachio

00:35:46.179 --> 00:35:49.719
without tools? You use tools for your pistachios?

00:35:50.280 --> 00:35:53.519
What tools would you use for a pistachio? Like

00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:57.519
a nutcracker. You use a nutcracker on pistachios?

00:35:57.519 --> 00:36:03.219
The pistachios you buy are pre -opened. I don't

00:36:03.219 --> 00:36:05.000
buy the pre -opened ones. They're more expensive.

00:36:05.869 --> 00:36:08.409
Oh, my God. This place is called Pistachio Land.

00:36:08.929 --> 00:36:18.590
We're taking a road trip. This is so silly. I

00:36:18.590 --> 00:36:21.329
didn't know they grew on trees. I don't know

00:36:21.329 --> 00:36:23.710
how I thought pistachios grew, but this wasn't

00:36:23.710 --> 00:36:26.909
it. This is a pistachio orchard. I'm learning

00:36:26.909 --> 00:36:30.050
all kinds of stuff today. Well, yeah, that's

00:36:30.050 --> 00:36:32.929
what makes it a nut. That's why peanuts aren't

00:36:32.929 --> 00:36:35.599
nuts. They're beans. Because they come from the

00:36:35.599 --> 00:36:39.159
ground. Why do we call them peanuts? They're

00:36:39.159 --> 00:36:43.900
legumes. I don't know. I don't know. Why do we

00:36:43.900 --> 00:36:46.039
call a strawberry a strawberry when it's not

00:36:46.039 --> 00:36:49.440
a berry? Why isn't a banana called a banana berry

00:36:49.440 --> 00:36:53.699
when it is a berry? That's a good point. I don't

00:36:53.699 --> 00:36:57.980
know. I didn't make these crazy rules. I just

00:36:57.980 --> 00:37:01.539
have to follow them. I believe that pistachios

00:37:01.539 --> 00:37:06.550
should be a... bush. They should grow on bushes.

00:37:06.949 --> 00:37:13.789
That's how that makes sense to me. What is a

00:37:13.789 --> 00:37:17.710
bush but not just a series of little tiny trees

00:37:17.710 --> 00:37:22.690
clumped together? There's your wisdom for that.

00:37:22.730 --> 00:37:25.230
It's a tree without its platform boots. There

00:37:25.230 --> 00:37:30.010
you go. If a bush had an online dating profile.

00:37:30.829 --> 00:37:32.750
And it didn't disclose that. That would be a

00:37:32.750 --> 00:37:36.030
scheme and a scam. And we are back. And we're

00:37:36.030 --> 00:37:43.829
back. Victor Lustig was a man who managed to

00:37:43.829 --> 00:37:47.210
successfully sell the Eiffel Tower one time.

00:37:47.349 --> 00:37:50.150
And it worked in an attempt to sell the Eiffel

00:37:50.150 --> 00:37:56.170
Tower a second time. And it did not pan out the

00:37:56.170 --> 00:38:01.780
second time. So what he did. was he posed as

00:38:01.780 --> 00:38:07.199
a government official that was the person in

00:38:07.199 --> 00:38:11.199
charge of getting rid of the Eiffel Tower. And

00:38:11.199 --> 00:38:13.699
I've heard before, I don't know how true it is,

00:38:13.820 --> 00:38:18.000
but most Parisians don't like the Eiffel Tower.

00:38:18.219 --> 00:38:21.219
Because it attracts all the tourists? I think

00:38:21.219 --> 00:38:23.260
that's part of it. And they're stuck up snooty

00:38:23.260 --> 00:38:26.699
French people. But also because they just think

00:38:26.699 --> 00:38:30.650
that it is. I mean, it's a metal structure. That's

00:38:30.650 --> 00:38:33.349
all it is. I don't think it's as foo -foo as

00:38:33.349 --> 00:38:35.769
most French would prefer it to be. Maybe they

00:38:35.769 --> 00:38:38.010
should put a little beret on top of it. Spice

00:38:38.010 --> 00:38:41.349
it up. French it up. Yeah. Maybe. Maybe take

00:38:41.349 --> 00:38:43.969
a few pointers from the good old U .S. of A.

00:38:44.070 --> 00:38:46.650
and just dress it up a little bit. Maybe you'll

00:38:46.650 --> 00:38:49.230
find a new appreciation for it. Yeah. Build a

00:38:49.230 --> 00:38:53.210
baguette to scale. Yeah. Just give it a paper

00:38:53.210 --> 00:38:55.349
sack on the side that has a baguette sticking

00:38:55.349 --> 00:38:57.610
out of it. See, I think that one is American.

00:38:58.190 --> 00:38:59.769
But if it doesn't have the paper bag, it's French.

00:39:00.309 --> 00:39:03.030
Oh, OK. I don't know the last time I bought a

00:39:03.030 --> 00:39:05.710
baguette, but, you know, you got to you got to

00:39:05.710 --> 00:39:08.190
make a show every time you buy one. You do. I

00:39:08.190 --> 00:39:12.449
mean, they're unwieldy. I was making spaghetti

00:39:12.449 --> 00:39:14.570
and meatballs here and we were going to have

00:39:14.570 --> 00:39:17.030
garlic bread, but we didn't have any garlic bread.

00:39:17.250 --> 00:39:22.690
So I ran to Aldi and got a baguette. And for

00:39:22.690 --> 00:39:25.489
whatever reason, it was like, I don't know, maybe

00:39:25.489 --> 00:39:28.679
like. The diameter of it was like two inches,

00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:33.019
but it was like two and a half feet long. And

00:39:33.019 --> 00:39:37.079
so you got to buy a breadstick. I mean, it was

00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:40.699
it was bread. It was a baguette, but it was just

00:39:40.699 --> 00:39:47.380
extremely it was it was odd shaped. And at Aldi,

00:39:47.380 --> 00:39:49.880
you have to pay for a cart. You pay for bags.

00:39:50.059 --> 00:39:51.980
I was just running in. I was getting one thing.

00:39:52.260 --> 00:39:55.530
And so I just went up. Got it, paid for it, and

00:39:55.530 --> 00:39:59.110
just walk out with this floppy baguette back

00:39:59.110 --> 00:40:02.050
to my truck. And it felt real strange. But, you

00:40:02.050 --> 00:40:05.730
know, I brought it home and made some fantastic

00:40:05.730 --> 00:40:08.769
garlic bread with it. So it is what it is. But,

00:40:08.769 --> 00:40:11.329
yeah, I mean, I guess what I'm trying to say

00:40:11.329 --> 00:40:14.510
is that baguettes come in all shapes and sizes.

00:40:14.809 --> 00:40:18.929
And that just doesn't conform to your idea of

00:40:18.929 --> 00:40:21.730
what a baguette should be. Doesn't make it any

00:40:21.730 --> 00:40:25.030
less of a baguette. You lost me in that story

00:40:25.030 --> 00:40:28.309
at you needing both to put a quarter in the little

00:40:28.309 --> 00:40:31.909
cart rental thingy. And also you needed a bag.

00:40:32.110 --> 00:40:35.909
You had to pay for a bag to take home one two

00:40:35.909 --> 00:40:38.309
foot long. I didn't pay for a bag and I didn't

00:40:38.309 --> 00:40:41.889
get a cart. I'm saying, no, I'm saying if you've

00:40:41.889 --> 00:40:43.469
been to Aldi, then you know that you have to

00:40:43.469 --> 00:40:45.989
do that. I was getting one thing. But you didn't

00:40:45.989 --> 00:40:49.269
have to do that. I didn't do that. No. But I

00:40:49.269 --> 00:40:52.170
could have concealed my purchase better if I

00:40:52.170 --> 00:40:54.920
had. I didn't have to walk out of the store.

00:40:55.559 --> 00:40:59.880
I didn't have to walk out the store. Just my

00:40:59.880 --> 00:41:03.239
floppy baguette just flapping all around, trying

00:41:03.239 --> 00:41:04.840
to get back to the truck so I could get home.

00:41:05.079 --> 00:41:07.179
I could have concealed it better, but it made

00:41:07.179 --> 00:41:09.719
no sense. And so I didn't. And if people want

00:41:09.719 --> 00:41:12.940
to judge me for that, then that's on them. That's

00:41:12.940 --> 00:41:15.900
not me. I'm cool as a cucumber. You say whatever

00:41:15.900 --> 00:41:18.760
you want to say. Won't bother me none. Because

00:41:18.760 --> 00:41:22.650
I still came home and made some. Some great garlic

00:41:22.650 --> 00:41:26.070
bread. So back on the Eiffel Tower. Yes, back

00:41:26.070 --> 00:41:31.050
on the Eiffel Tower. He posed as a government

00:41:31.050 --> 00:41:34.889
official that was in charge of dismantling the

00:41:34.889 --> 00:41:38.289
Eiffel Tower and selling it for scrap metal because

00:41:38.289 --> 00:41:41.289
they were done with it. And so what he did was

00:41:41.289 --> 00:41:44.710
he gathered up some local scrap metal people

00:41:44.710 --> 00:41:48.550
so that he could explain everything to them and

00:41:48.550 --> 00:41:52.639
get a bid on it. on how much they would pay for

00:41:52.639 --> 00:41:55.639
the scrap metal from the Eiffel Tower. Most of

00:41:55.639 --> 00:42:00.059
the, and he did it upright. He met them in a

00:42:00.059 --> 00:42:04.739
fancy hotel and laid it all out for them. Almost

00:42:04.739 --> 00:42:07.820
everybody saw right through it. Like, nah, we're

00:42:07.820 --> 00:42:12.440
good. No, we, no, we, we here. Is no, no in French

00:42:12.440 --> 00:42:16.980
too? I think so, but it's N -O -N. Non? Non?

00:42:17.699 --> 00:42:20.199
I'm pretty sure, yeah. Anyways, they didn't say

00:42:20.199 --> 00:42:23.539
we. They said the opposite of we, whatever that

00:42:23.539 --> 00:42:28.179
is. Is what they told Victor. Except for one.

00:42:28.880 --> 00:42:34.960
One gentleman. A man by the name of Andre Poisson.

00:42:35.460 --> 00:42:39.980
Huh. You think there's any relation? Yes. Oh,

00:42:39.980 --> 00:42:42.519
okay. Let's hope so. I think there's relation.

00:42:42.519 --> 00:42:46.559
Let's hope this is their claim to fame. And another

00:42:46.559 --> 00:42:50.980
very smart thing he did. was that he told all

00:42:50.980 --> 00:42:53.440
these scrap metal people, hey, we got to keep

00:42:53.440 --> 00:42:55.940
this on the down low. All right. They want to

00:42:55.940 --> 00:42:59.280
get rid of it because the costs to upkeep it

00:42:59.280 --> 00:43:01.360
are just through the roof. So they just want

00:43:01.360 --> 00:43:03.679
to get rid of it. But we know there's going to

00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:05.840
be a public outcry. People are going to be pissed.

00:43:06.239 --> 00:43:09.219
So we got to keep it quiet. All right. Until

00:43:09.219 --> 00:43:11.880
the deal's done. And then we can say, hey, you

00:43:11.880 --> 00:43:14.119
know, there's nothing we can do. It's already

00:43:14.119 --> 00:43:15.679
been signed. Contract's been signed. It's out

00:43:15.679 --> 00:43:18.960
of our hands. That is a smart way to go about

00:43:18.960 --> 00:43:24.739
it. And Poisson was his only bite when he threw

00:43:24.739 --> 00:43:28.880
out his hook for the scam. But he still had his

00:43:28.880 --> 00:43:31.480
reservations. He still thought something seemed

00:43:31.480 --> 00:43:37.659
a little hinky. And so what Victor did was he

00:43:37.659 --> 00:43:40.380
said, hey, you know, being a public servant,

00:43:40.559 --> 00:43:43.500
it's not great money. And I have this great deal

00:43:43.500 --> 00:43:45.800
for you. But, you know, I also have these other

00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:53.570
takers. So what can we do? Hmm. How can we make

00:43:53.570 --> 00:43:57.269
this deal work for everyone? How about Mr. Poisson?

00:43:57.650 --> 00:44:01.070
You just you slip me. You slip me 70 ,000 francs

00:44:01.070 --> 00:44:02.809
to let me know you're serious. You let me know

00:44:02.809 --> 00:44:05.329
you're serious because, you know, I mean, it's

00:44:05.329 --> 00:44:07.889
a public servant. It's rough out here. I'm just

00:44:07.889 --> 00:44:11.730
I'm doing the duty for my people. But I could

00:44:11.730 --> 00:44:15.050
use a little persuasion on getting everything

00:44:15.050 --> 00:44:18.489
in order. Making sure that you can make this

00:44:18.489 --> 00:44:22.070
as profitable for yourself as possible. And so

00:44:22.070 --> 00:44:24.849
that sold him. That sold Poisson. He was like,

00:44:24.889 --> 00:44:27.309
oh, okay. He's asking for a bribe. This must

00:44:27.309 --> 00:44:33.309
be legit. And so he gives Victor the $70 ,000.

00:44:34.050 --> 00:44:40.489
And he then paid for the fictitious contract

00:44:40.489 --> 00:44:47.880
with proper, like, like on the right stationery,

00:44:47.920 --> 00:44:50.480
forged stationery, but it looked legit enough

00:44:50.480 --> 00:44:55.500
for Poisson to sign off on it and ended up selling

00:44:55.500 --> 00:44:58.679
it, selling the scrap to Poisson for a total

00:44:58.679 --> 00:45:03.780
of 1 .2 million francs, which today is worth

00:45:03.780 --> 00:45:07.679
5 .3 million. So that's pretty sweet payday to

00:45:07.679 --> 00:45:10.400
sell something that you don't own and then just

00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:13.980
wash your hands of it. So he got the five. or

00:45:13.980 --> 00:45:17.059
the $1 .2 million plus the $70 ,000 that he got

00:45:17.059 --> 00:45:20.679
in the bribe, and he made it like a bandit. But

00:45:20.679 --> 00:45:25.860
then whenever Poisson caught on to the fact that

00:45:25.860 --> 00:45:30.440
he did not, in fact, buy the Eiffel Tower to

00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:35.260
be scrap metal, he was too embarrassed that he

00:45:35.260 --> 00:45:40.480
got so hoodwinked, so bamboozled, that he just

00:45:40.480 --> 00:45:45.130
didn't say anything. I wish that I could lose

00:45:45.130 --> 00:45:50.650
1 .2 million whatevers in a deal. And my embarrassment

00:45:50.650 --> 00:45:55.110
of it is so severe that I can just wash my hands

00:45:55.110 --> 00:45:56.809
of that 1 .2 and say, you know what? I learned

00:45:56.809 --> 00:45:59.909
a lesson. I'm going to go on about my life. Yeah.

00:45:59.989 --> 00:46:03.429
I mean, he's on the record now. We know that

00:46:03.429 --> 00:46:10.269
he's a big old dum -dum. That he bought the Eiffel

00:46:10.269 --> 00:46:15.289
Tower. To use for scrap metal. And then to walk

00:46:15.289 --> 00:46:18.510
around, to walk around Paris and for it to not

00:46:18.510 --> 00:46:23.550
even in Paris, it's a worldwide symbol to see

00:46:23.550 --> 00:46:26.989
it everywhere. You go, you're walking down the

00:46:26.989 --> 00:46:29.530
street and you see a little toddler that has

00:46:29.530 --> 00:46:31.909
a onesie on that says Paris with a picture of

00:46:31.909 --> 00:46:33.909
the Eiffel Tower on it. And that's just always

00:46:33.909 --> 00:46:37.250
a reminder of what an idiot you were. That is

00:46:37.250 --> 00:46:43.889
the worst thing. To have as a reminder of your

00:46:43.889 --> 00:46:47.329
complete stupidity is the Eiffel Tower because

00:46:47.329 --> 00:46:50.269
it is literally everywhere. There is not a more

00:46:50.269 --> 00:46:55.590
French symbol. It's the beret, the baguette,

00:46:55.590 --> 00:47:01.190
and the Eiffel Tower. Oh. And so Victor kept

00:47:01.190 --> 00:47:03.789
an eye on the newspapers because he knew the

00:47:03.789 --> 00:47:08.000
gig was up. He knew that he had been... He knew

00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:10.719
that Poisson knew what was going on, but nothing

00:47:10.719 --> 00:47:14.039
was ever in the papers. And so he figured that

00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:15.840
if nothing was here now, then he's not going

00:47:15.840 --> 00:47:17.679
to say anything. So I could just do this again.

00:47:18.340 --> 00:47:21.760
And so a little while later, he attempts it again.

00:47:22.699 --> 00:47:26.940
Except this time, the person that he approaches

00:47:26.940 --> 00:47:31.800
about the sale is not a complete moron and goes

00:47:31.800 --> 00:47:34.239
to the authorities and Victor goes on the run.

00:47:35.349 --> 00:47:39.670
Came to the great U S of a, why not? Why not?

00:47:39.829 --> 00:47:47.750
Why not? Just, uh, 19 before 1947, 1930. I mean,

00:47:47.750 --> 00:47:49.949
that's like Ellis Island time, right? Just hop

00:47:49.949 --> 00:48:01.010
on a ship, go to Ellis Island. Go from Victor

00:48:01.010 --> 00:48:06.340
Lustig to Frank. Smith. And then you're good.

00:48:06.380 --> 00:48:10.440
You're good to go. But if only, if only he had

00:48:10.440 --> 00:48:14.119
left his criminal ways behind him in France.

00:48:14.519 --> 00:48:19.099
But he didn't. He eventually ended up being imprisoned

00:48:19.099 --> 00:48:25.019
at the Rock. Yeah. In the Bay. Good old Alcatraz.

00:48:25.659 --> 00:48:29.280
And he ended up dying there in 1947. What was

00:48:29.280 --> 00:48:33.679
he imprisoned for? Didn't say schemes got him.

00:48:33.719 --> 00:48:37.780
Oh, I didn't say. Yeah. Yeah. I just I didn't

00:48:37.780 --> 00:48:41.179
dive that deep into it. Probably should. I would

00:48:41.179 --> 00:48:47.780
be curious what moment I think that Poisson realized

00:48:47.780 --> 00:48:52.260
that he'd been had. Did he like did he drive

00:48:52.260 --> 00:48:57.400
up to the Eiffel Tower with just like the collection

00:48:57.400 --> 00:49:01.849
trucks and a staff and a couple torches? Like,

00:49:01.849 --> 00:49:07.849
yeah, what was the process here? She's a man.

00:49:08.889 --> 00:49:17.170
Oh, that was more Mario. I don't know if I could

00:49:17.170 --> 00:49:22.469
do French on the spot. A lot of phlegm. Very

00:49:22.469 --> 00:49:26.630
phlegmy people. It is a very phlegmy language,

00:49:26.809 --> 00:49:31.559
that's for sure. Oh. All right. So how do you

00:49:31.559 --> 00:49:36.739
feel about our Wall of Infamy? Who's your favorite?

00:49:37.559 --> 00:49:43.699
The OG? The OG. Bonzi? Bernie? Because he was

00:49:43.699 --> 00:49:50.380
so good at it? Or Victor Lustig because he was

00:49:50.380 --> 00:49:54.900
just so brazen. They all have their qualities.

00:49:56.039 --> 00:49:58.980
I mean, there's something to be said about the

00:49:58.980 --> 00:50:02.949
first. in recorded history to have done it, but

00:50:02.949 --> 00:50:06.289
I think I've got to go with Victor Lustig because

00:50:06.289 --> 00:50:12.329
to sell the Eiffel Tower successfully at least

00:50:12.329 --> 00:50:15.190
once is pretty incredible. That's a good choice.

00:50:15.650 --> 00:50:21.329
Honestly, I would pick him too because he picked

00:50:21.329 --> 00:50:26.309
the perfect mark because even when he found out

00:50:26.309 --> 00:50:29.909
what was going on, He was too embarrassed to

00:50:29.909 --> 00:50:35.650
say anything. 1 .2 million francs slide. Yeah.

00:50:35.710 --> 00:50:41.070
To save his ego. He nailed it. So, yeah, I definitely

00:50:41.070 --> 00:50:44.110
think that he's probably the best of all of them.

00:50:44.809 --> 00:50:47.289
All right. You ready to shift a little bit to

00:50:47.289 --> 00:50:53.670
companies who were schemers and scammers? This

00:50:53.670 --> 00:50:57.969
first entry I have. I was a little hesitant.

00:50:58.070 --> 00:51:02.130
I was going to put it in the part before, but

00:51:02.130 --> 00:51:08.550
there was actually two people that took a majority

00:51:08.550 --> 00:51:12.849
of the blame for what happened. But everyone

00:51:12.849 --> 00:51:18.369
knows about the one. And that is Elizabeth Holmes

00:51:18.369 --> 00:51:24.630
of Theranos. You know anything about Theranos?

00:51:27.040 --> 00:51:30.400
I. The extent of my knowledge about Elizabeth

00:51:30.400 --> 00:51:36.840
Holmes is. Unfortunately, through. The dropout

00:51:36.840 --> 00:51:40.239
on Hulu, a show that I have not watched, which

00:51:40.239 --> 00:51:42.099
would be very helpful, I feel like in this situation

00:51:42.099 --> 00:51:46.579
and. Unfortunately, a new episode of Family Guy.

00:51:47.940 --> 00:51:53.760
Which parodies that and the bear. And then like.

00:51:54.059 --> 00:51:58.460
They did an HBO episode and a Hulu episode. Hulu's

00:51:58.460 --> 00:52:01.699
was Only Murders in the Building, The Bear, and

00:52:01.699 --> 00:52:09.280
The Dropout. Gotcha. Yeah. If you watch some

00:52:09.280 --> 00:52:13.360
of the stuff whenever Elizabeth Holmes was peddling

00:52:13.360 --> 00:52:18.159
the Edison machine, which was the flagship product

00:52:18.159 --> 00:52:26.070
of Theranos, she just... Comes across as. Crazy.

00:52:27.190 --> 00:52:30.869
She's always wide eyed. Like her eyes. She's

00:52:30.869 --> 00:52:35.010
like. Just staring into your soul. The entire

00:52:35.010 --> 00:52:43.010
time she's talking to you. She. Stole the. She

00:52:43.010 --> 00:52:47.969
always looked like. She just. Went to Steve Jobs.

00:52:48.070 --> 00:52:51.309
As a state sale. And bought all of his turtlenecks.

00:52:53.360 --> 00:52:56.619
It's a marker of success. And then whenever she

00:52:56.619 --> 00:53:01.119
would talk, it would be. Yes. Oh, Theranos. We.

00:53:01.280 --> 00:53:06.119
And just it's a very fake put on. Trying to act

00:53:06.119 --> 00:53:11.380
like she's high academic voice. And just everything

00:53:11.380 --> 00:53:15.500
about her was so silly. She was like her own

00:53:15.500 --> 00:53:19.179
caricature trying to sell this product to these.

00:53:19.719 --> 00:53:24.860
And the Edison product, the thing that she touted

00:53:24.860 --> 00:53:27.739
it would do was that it would take a drop of

00:53:27.739 --> 00:53:30.840
blood or a small amount. I don't know if it was

00:53:30.840 --> 00:53:36.159
exactly like a drop, but in like a the diabetes

00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:40.699
test tester things. So like that. And then all

00:53:40.699 --> 00:53:43.199
of a sudden it could churn out this huge panel

00:53:43.199 --> 00:53:47.940
of everything that's wrong with you on which.

00:53:48.760 --> 00:53:53.280
That would be like a miracle thing if that had

00:53:53.280 --> 00:53:55.719
actually existed. Spoiler alert, it did not.

00:53:55.940 --> 00:53:59.860
It's disappointing. There was some very creative

00:53:59.860 --> 00:54:06.920
ways to mislead the investors that were giving

00:54:06.920 --> 00:54:12.079
Theranos money for this world changing invention.

00:54:12.380 --> 00:54:16.199
A lot of it revolved around they would take the

00:54:16.199 --> 00:54:19.429
samples that they got. From the Edison and then

00:54:19.429 --> 00:54:22.389
they would have to ship those out to actual blood

00:54:22.389 --> 00:54:26.469
labs to test them and then they would then come

00:54:26.469 --> 00:54:28.349
back with the results and say, yeah, here you

00:54:28.349 --> 00:54:33.489
go. Totally came from Edison. On on like their

00:54:33.489 --> 00:54:37.269
own stationary so that it all looked legit and

00:54:37.269 --> 00:54:42.090
just mind boggling. And her defense was that

00:54:42.090 --> 00:54:46.829
it would she just needed to fake it till you

00:54:46.829 --> 00:54:50.699
make it. She needed to string them along long

00:54:50.699 --> 00:54:53.400
enough to where they could actually get a functioning

00:54:53.400 --> 00:54:56.260
device and then it would be like a real thing.

00:54:56.380 --> 00:54:58.739
But they couldn't get it without the investors,

00:54:58.980 --> 00:55:06.320
which I think that if there was enough. If she

00:55:06.320 --> 00:55:09.260
had been able to show enough promise for it,

00:55:09.360 --> 00:55:11.860
I think that there is enough angel investors

00:55:11.860 --> 00:55:13.719
out there that she could have had plenty of money

00:55:13.719 --> 00:55:16.760
for it. There's so much money that's dumped into.

00:55:18.869 --> 00:55:21.710
that she definitely could have found the money.

00:55:21.769 --> 00:55:26.630
And whenever there was a functional product available,

00:55:26.949 --> 00:55:28.809
those people would have made their money back

00:55:28.809 --> 00:55:31.909
tenfold. Not for nothing, but how much of the

00:55:31.909 --> 00:55:35.769
success of a scam is based on the effectiveness

00:55:35.769 --> 00:55:38.889
in which you can recreate stationery? It's pretty

00:55:38.889 --> 00:55:43.269
crazy. Another person that was going to make

00:55:43.269 --> 00:55:48.469
the list for... The previous section of individuals

00:55:48.469 --> 00:55:52.429
would have been Frank Abagnale Jr., the one that

00:55:52.429 --> 00:55:56.789
they made Catch Me If You Can about with Leonardo

00:55:56.789 --> 00:56:00.730
DiCaprio. They really did him a solid by casting

00:56:00.730 --> 00:56:04.969
Leonardo DiCaprio in his role because he was

00:56:04.969 --> 00:56:09.869
nowhere near, to my eyes, as charming and as

00:56:09.869 --> 00:56:12.710
handsome as Leonardo DiCaprio is in that movie.

00:56:13.429 --> 00:56:20.059
It probably also... that he was like a consultant

00:56:20.059 --> 00:56:26.139
on the movie and was also in the movie. So I'm

00:56:26.139 --> 00:56:29.260
going to get Leo for this at the end. He's one

00:56:29.260 --> 00:56:31.179
of the cops that gets him at the end and sends

00:56:31.179 --> 00:56:36.099
him to prison. I actually own that on DVD now.

00:56:36.340 --> 00:56:40.000
It's one of my few discs. That's a good one.

00:56:40.559 --> 00:56:42.440
That's a good one. It's a good throwback. That

00:56:42.440 --> 00:56:44.679
was one of the good things about Fly Me to the

00:56:44.679 --> 00:56:47.619
Moon. It's that it had like all 60s aesthetics

00:56:47.619 --> 00:56:53.960
in it. So that's one kudos I can give to it.

00:56:54.019 --> 00:56:57.780
At one point, Theranos was evaluated at $9 billion.

00:56:58.960 --> 00:57:03.420
So they had the money flowing in. But all that

00:57:03.420 --> 00:57:08.000
money and valuation was based on lies that were

00:57:08.000 --> 00:57:10.179
being told about a technology that didn't exist.

00:57:11.059 --> 00:57:16.539
And so fraud. Fraud in, like, the most literal

00:57:16.539 --> 00:57:20.920
definition possible. What is the timeline on

00:57:20.920 --> 00:57:24.900
the Theranos, like, in this particular story?

00:57:25.400 --> 00:57:28.039
What years are we talking? Like, from start to,

00:57:28.159 --> 00:57:36.579
let's see. I do know that it ended in 2018 is

00:57:36.579 --> 00:57:41.000
when it was shut down. Okay. It was founded in

00:57:41.000 --> 00:57:47.469
2003. dissolved and liquidated. Founder convicted

00:57:47.469 --> 00:57:51.329
in January of 2022 of wire fraud and conspiracy

00:57:51.329 --> 00:57:55.849
and sentenced to 11 and a quarter years in prison.

00:57:56.889 --> 00:57:59.869
I wonder how they worked out the three months

00:57:59.869 --> 00:58:02.889
that you would also get on top of your 11 years.

00:58:04.170 --> 00:58:08.949
Yeah, I don't know. But from the beginning, it

00:58:08.949 --> 00:58:15.750
was about the blood testing. Worked on, I mean,

00:58:15.750 --> 00:58:18.429
it was real pie -in -the -sky stuff, like a computer

00:58:18.429 --> 00:58:25.409
chip that would be used to do, not nearly as

00:58:25.409 --> 00:58:28.110
much as what she promised the Edison could do,

00:58:28.190 --> 00:58:31.650
but along those same lines. And when she started

00:58:31.650 --> 00:58:33.309
it, I think she had good intentions for that.

00:58:33.730 --> 00:58:37.289
She also started it with a trust from her parents.

00:58:37.769 --> 00:58:41.280
So, came from money and then... ran out of that

00:58:41.280 --> 00:58:44.260
money or wanted more money or, I don't know,

00:58:44.300 --> 00:58:49.360
really fell into the Steve Jobs cosplay and just

00:58:49.360 --> 00:58:51.639
decided you weren't anything if you didn't have

00:58:51.639 --> 00:58:54.579
a company valued at $9 billion. I don't know,

00:58:54.639 --> 00:58:56.739
but I think she started with good intentions

00:58:56.739 --> 00:58:59.380
and it just got away from her. I can see that.

00:58:59.539 --> 00:59:02.639
Yeah, definitely has crazy eyes, so not someone

00:59:02.639 --> 00:59:04.539
that you should give your money to. She's definitely

00:59:04.539 --> 00:59:12.670
got Amanda's safety, nailed it. She in 2012,

00:59:12.909 --> 00:59:18.309
they started they had a partnership with Safeway

00:59:18.309 --> 00:59:22.250
Pharmacies where they would do like in store

00:59:22.250 --> 00:59:27.489
blood testing. And so that that helped them gain

00:59:27.489 --> 00:59:30.690
some legitimacy. Yeah. Yeah. Even though even

00:59:30.690 --> 00:59:35.190
all that was just BS, that was all bull and nothing

00:59:35.190 --> 00:59:38.269
ever actually came to fruition with that. And.

00:59:39.079 --> 00:59:43.380
Then a year later, even after the Safeway stuff

00:59:43.380 --> 00:59:46.340
wasn't doing anything, Walgreens got in on it

00:59:46.340 --> 00:59:49.400
too, which I think was a case of FOMO more than

00:59:49.400 --> 00:59:51.940
anything else. Sure. So they'd be willing to

00:59:51.940 --> 00:59:53.480
throw money at it even if it didn't work out

00:59:53.480 --> 00:59:55.940
just so no one else could have it and they didn't.

00:59:56.000 --> 00:59:58.079
Are they owned by the same people? Are they?

00:59:58.360 --> 01:00:01.000
I have no clue. Maybe it's like Safeway and Rite

01:00:01.000 --> 01:00:03.679
Aid. There's a couple of them that are like big

01:00:03.679 --> 01:00:08.460
chains that are actually connected. Maybe. Yeah,

01:00:08.480 --> 01:00:13.739
on this one, she wasn't just falsifying Theranos

01:00:13.739 --> 01:00:18.539
papers. She was also falsifying papers that supposedly

01:00:18.539 --> 01:00:21.659
came from places like Pfizer and like huge pharmaceutical

01:00:21.659 --> 01:00:28.559
companies to bolster her lies about the success

01:00:28.559 --> 01:00:33.480
of the Edison. She had also convinced people

01:00:33.480 --> 01:00:38.159
that her invention was. currently being used

01:00:38.159 --> 01:00:42.059
in the military. I mean, she went full bore.

01:00:42.280 --> 01:00:47.880
The whistleblower stated that Elizabeth and the

01:00:47.880 --> 01:00:54.760
chief operating officer, Ramesh Sunny Balwani,

01:00:54.960 --> 01:00:58.960
were very secretive about everything. There were

01:00:58.960 --> 01:01:02.739
not even veiled threats of, if you say anything

01:01:02.739 --> 01:01:05.420
outside of this company, it will be terrible

01:01:05.420 --> 01:01:10.000
for you. And so, I mean, that doesn't that doesn't

01:01:10.000 --> 01:01:11.840
seem like something a reputable company would

01:01:11.840 --> 01:01:17.079
do to outright say, hey, shut up or else. Is

01:01:17.079 --> 01:01:20.360
that not? I assume that is actually how most

01:01:20.360 --> 01:01:23.940
large, actually successful companies work. Maybe

01:01:23.940 --> 01:01:27.739
put in more professional terms, but. From everything

01:01:27.739 --> 01:01:31.380
I've seen, it was it was it was out in the open.

01:01:31.559 --> 01:01:34.800
Yeah. Like, don't say a fucking word. I swear

01:01:34.800 --> 01:01:38.750
to God. Kind of like, you know, you know how

01:01:38.750 --> 01:01:42.750
Ron Swanson had that Claymore on his desk? Kind

01:01:42.750 --> 01:01:45.630
of like that. Like, hey, say something. Maybe

01:01:45.630 --> 01:01:47.269
maybe this gets put in front of your door. I

01:01:47.269 --> 01:01:51.309
don't know. I don't know. Maybe. Maybe. Yeah.

01:01:51.409 --> 01:01:56.030
So she got 11 and a quarter years and Ramesh,

01:01:56.110 --> 01:01:59.329
who was completely complicit in all of it, ended

01:01:59.329 --> 01:02:03.250
up getting 12 felony counts of fraud and conspiracy.

01:02:03.960 --> 01:02:06.500
and was also sentenced to roughly the same amount

01:02:06.500 --> 01:02:10.719
of time in prison. You'd think that $9 billion

01:02:10.719 --> 01:02:14.719
worth of fraud would carry a little higher of

01:02:14.719 --> 01:02:18.119
a sentence than 11 years and three months. You'd

01:02:18.119 --> 01:02:22.019
think so. But then you also have Bernie Madoff,

01:02:22.179 --> 01:02:26.559
who, I mean, grand scheme of things, $65 billion

01:02:26.559 --> 01:02:31.139
versus the $9 billion. He got 150 years. So,

01:02:31.139 --> 01:02:33.789
I don't know. I don't know. I don't think I understand

01:02:33.789 --> 01:02:37.230
anything about the prosecution for white -collar

01:02:37.230 --> 01:02:41.010
crimes. Prosecution for any crimes. Yeah. I don't

01:02:41.010 --> 01:02:42.590
really understand how those timelines shake out.

01:02:42.789 --> 01:02:45.250
It's all over the place. Yeah. And then there's

01:02:45.250 --> 01:02:47.630
also, oh, well, he's getting life in prison with

01:02:47.630 --> 01:02:51.210
the possibility of parole in 25 years. Okay.

01:02:51.670 --> 01:02:56.510
So, like, I understand that you may not be granted

01:02:56.510 --> 01:03:01.710
parole, but then that's not really life. If you

01:03:01.710 --> 01:03:03.309
have the opportunity, you're just here until

01:03:03.309 --> 01:03:06.329
they say that you're not here anymore. Yeah.

01:03:06.730 --> 01:03:09.230
So I don't know. Maybe maybe we come up with

01:03:09.230 --> 01:03:13.329
a different term instead of life. I have legitimately

01:03:13.329 --> 01:03:16.610
never understood what a life sentence is. I don't

01:03:16.610 --> 01:03:19.590
feel like it's a standard unit. I don't feel

01:03:19.590 --> 01:03:21.889
like I've ever heard it in the same number. So

01:03:21.889 --> 01:03:25.690
like what what is a life sentence? I couldn't

01:03:25.690 --> 01:03:29.730
tell you. A life sentence in other countries

01:03:29.730 --> 01:03:34.769
can be like 15 years, 10 years. They say he got

01:03:34.769 --> 01:03:37.150
life, so he'll be in there for at least 12 years.

01:03:37.309 --> 01:03:41.710
Okay, that doesn't seem like life to me, but

01:03:41.710 --> 01:03:45.309
I don't know. I'm going to add that as our not

01:03:45.309 --> 01:03:48.389
so fun fact for the next episode. What exactly

01:03:48.389 --> 01:03:52.849
constitutes a life sentence? Is American sentencing

01:03:52.849 --> 01:03:56.530
procedures? Just that one specific thing I get.

01:03:56.829 --> 01:03:59.170
too deep in the weeds, it's going to make everybody

01:03:59.170 --> 01:04:05.389
sad. Do you know anything about Dieselgate? Dieselgate?

01:04:06.489 --> 01:04:10.090
No. This is the least informed I have ever been

01:04:10.090 --> 01:04:15.349
for one of our episodes. I'm just here for moral

01:04:15.349 --> 01:04:19.849
support. What about the people's car? People's

01:04:19.849 --> 01:04:27.179
car? Yeah. The Volkswagen. And Dieselgate. Okay.

01:04:27.320 --> 01:04:30.780
Okay. That's fine. That's fine. That's fine.

01:04:30.860 --> 01:04:32.619
That's fine. Because I got everything you need

01:04:32.619 --> 01:04:39.599
right here. In 2015, the Volkswagen company was

01:04:39.599 --> 01:04:43.659
approached because they were confronted with

01:04:43.659 --> 01:04:49.780
evidence that there, I believe it was the Jettas.

01:04:50.320 --> 01:04:57.530
It was a sedan that ran on diesel. The emissions

01:04:57.530 --> 01:05:00.829
that were actually coming out of the car were

01:05:00.829 --> 01:05:05.550
completely different than what the computer was

01:05:05.550 --> 01:05:08.190
saying the emissions coming out of the car were.

01:05:08.329 --> 01:05:13.190
I do remember this one. So every company or every

01:05:13.190 --> 01:05:17.849
country has their own rules for how much emissions

01:05:17.849 --> 01:05:21.409
a car is allowed to release. And there's all

01:05:21.409 --> 01:05:23.110
kinds of different factors in it. There's all

01:05:23.110 --> 01:05:27.449
kinds of stuff. For the most part, it's, hey,

01:05:27.590 --> 01:05:30.329
you can't have something that's just blowing

01:05:30.329 --> 01:05:33.789
black smoke out all day. So you got to rein it

01:05:33.789 --> 01:05:35.989
in. You got to figure out what you need to do

01:05:35.989 --> 01:05:38.670
for your engines. You need to figure out if you

01:05:38.670 --> 01:05:42.670
need death. You need to figure out if you need

01:05:42.670 --> 01:05:45.730
different catalytic converters or what you got

01:05:45.730 --> 01:05:48.269
to do to fix it, to make sure all that stuff

01:05:48.269 --> 01:05:49.989
isn't going up, blowing a hole in the ozone,

01:05:50.210 --> 01:05:52.030
going to burn us all up to death. All right.

01:05:53.849 --> 01:05:58.980
Well. The discrepancy between what the computers

01:05:58.980 --> 01:06:01.920
of these cars were saying versus what was actually

01:06:01.920 --> 01:06:10.079
coming out was a difference of about 4000 percent

01:06:10.079 --> 01:06:20.519
above the legal limit for emissions. And so after

01:06:20.519 --> 01:06:24.909
enough poking and prodding, Volkswagen. finally

01:06:24.909 --> 01:06:27.389
fessed up to the fact that they had installed

01:06:27.389 --> 01:06:33.050
a defeat device on the computers of these cars

01:06:33.050 --> 01:06:38.469
that when they knew that they were being scanned,

01:06:38.590 --> 01:06:42.110
when they were being tested for emissions, that

01:06:42.110 --> 01:06:49.690
they would top out below the legal limit. But

01:06:49.690 --> 01:06:53.469
as soon as that testing was over, then it was...

01:06:54.250 --> 01:07:02.409
Let her rip. And that came out to about 400 times

01:07:02.409 --> 01:07:07.809
the legal emissions limit. And they had to pay

01:07:07.809 --> 01:07:15.289
billions of dollars to do a recall. And then

01:07:15.289 --> 01:07:17.409
not just that, but also the fines associated

01:07:17.409 --> 01:07:20.230
with lying and getting caught up and all this

01:07:20.230 --> 01:07:27.489
stuff. Yeah, and then they decided to throw their

01:07:27.489 --> 01:07:30.789
hat into the EV ring, so no telling what they're

01:07:30.789 --> 01:07:33.909
doing with all that. I don't even know what the

01:07:33.909 --> 01:07:38.190
regulations are for EVs right now. I'm sure that

01:07:38.190 --> 01:07:41.409
there's something. I don't feel like there's

01:07:41.409 --> 01:07:45.849
a ton either, but they've been around long enough

01:07:45.849 --> 01:07:49.610
that, like, what are they doing with these batteries?

01:07:51.150 --> 01:07:56.510
Yeah. Your battery's swapped out and your EV

01:07:56.510 --> 01:08:01.809
is expensive as hell. Yeah, with like, I think

01:08:01.809 --> 01:08:05.989
like hybrids and EVs, you get like 100 ,000 miles

01:08:05.989 --> 01:08:07.789
out of them and then you have like a $10 ,000

01:08:07.789 --> 01:08:13.550
replacement for the battery for it. Yeah. That's

01:08:13.550 --> 01:08:17.909
what I understand about electric cars. But I

01:08:17.909 --> 01:08:21.899
think that so much of it is... thus far a little

01:08:21.899 --> 01:08:24.460
hard to regulate just because it's so new and

01:08:24.460 --> 01:08:28.380
moving so quickly. Slower than AI, but for the

01:08:28.380 --> 01:08:31.619
same kind of reasons that it's hard to find.

01:08:31.779 --> 01:08:35.699
It's hard to kind of get ahead of the innovation

01:08:35.699 --> 01:08:42.560
to do things the right way. Yeah. I don't know.

01:08:43.319 --> 01:08:49.880
I don't know. I don't have an EV. Don't plan

01:08:49.880 --> 01:08:55.159
on getting an EV until they decide to put out

01:08:55.159 --> 01:09:02.939
a Ram EV. But then Trump took office and then

01:09:02.939 --> 01:09:06.619
people were like, woo, gas. And so Ram decided

01:09:06.619 --> 01:09:11.260
to postpone the release of their Ram EV. So I'm

01:09:11.260 --> 01:09:14.239
just waiting. I don't think I would ever necessarily

01:09:14.239 --> 01:09:18.510
want to get an EV. Yeah. I mean, that's based

01:09:18.510 --> 01:09:20.850
on the technology that exists right now, not

01:09:20.850 --> 01:09:24.130
the technology that will always exist. But I

01:09:24.130 --> 01:09:26.329
don't think that I would ever want to fully separate

01:09:26.329 --> 01:09:29.890
myself from gas -powered vehicles. For right

01:09:29.890 --> 01:09:33.850
now, it's in large part a charging issue. Mm

01:09:33.850 --> 01:09:38.329
-hmm. That if you go on, say, a long -haul trip,

01:09:38.489 --> 01:09:40.909
you can always find a gas station, but you can't,

01:09:40.909 --> 01:09:45.409
in a lot of the states right now, find good charging

01:09:45.409 --> 01:09:49.100
ports. Yeah, I mean, it takes a lot more planning.

01:09:50.159 --> 01:09:52.039
Also, the mining that goes into making those

01:09:52.039 --> 01:09:56.800
batteries is at best a little ethically dicey.

01:09:57.739 --> 01:10:02.439
Yeah, you start picking at that thread and then

01:10:02.439 --> 01:10:07.180
there's a lot of stuff that you are no longer

01:10:07.180 --> 01:10:12.039
able to use. We would not be doing any of the

01:10:12.039 --> 01:10:14.539
podcasting that we're doing right now, I'm sure.

01:10:15.039 --> 01:10:20.409
We would not. That is what it is, I guess. I

01:10:20.409 --> 01:10:24.869
mean, I don't know how to save that. Do you know

01:10:24.869 --> 01:10:26.850
how to save it? Do you have any suggestions?

01:10:29.010 --> 01:10:32.170
I'm all for homesteading, but I think that line

01:10:32.170 --> 01:10:38.810
might be drawn before making my own phone. Now,

01:10:38.829 --> 01:10:43.710
I do wish that I was more in control of the...

01:10:44.810 --> 01:10:49.369
The sourcing of things in my life. Yeah. That

01:10:49.369 --> 01:10:51.550
is always a really tough thing when it comes

01:10:51.550 --> 01:10:55.529
to. A being in an apartment, so I can't really,

01:10:55.630 --> 01:11:00.430
you know, grow my own food. And. Be the expenses

01:11:00.430 --> 01:11:04.270
that come with buying things that are. Created

01:11:04.270 --> 01:11:09.909
properly. So. It's a it's a move that I would

01:11:09.909 --> 01:11:15.399
like to be a part of just. Not yet. I guess I'm

01:11:15.399 --> 01:11:17.939
still in this consumerism hell for a little while

01:11:17.939 --> 01:11:23.039
longer. Well, if you're going to be there anyways,

01:11:23.140 --> 01:11:28.699
you might as well enjoy it. Sure. Yeah. But you

01:11:28.699 --> 01:11:32.859
did you did earlier bring up Enron. Honestly,

01:11:33.159 --> 01:11:37.640
their stuff is like the white collariest white

01:11:37.640 --> 01:11:40.300
collar crimes of all time. It's all real, real

01:11:40.300 --> 01:11:43.619
heady stuff. Real. A lot of shell corporations

01:11:43.619 --> 01:11:47.500
that they would move all of their liabilities

01:11:47.500 --> 01:11:51.020
to so that they didn't show up on their like

01:11:51.020 --> 01:11:54.260
sheets during like earnings. What are they called?

01:11:55.359 --> 01:11:58.020
Just like earnings calls. Yeah. Well, like the

01:11:58.020 --> 01:11:59.920
like the end of year reporting, they wouldn't

01:11:59.920 --> 01:12:02.119
have to list it because technically it was over

01:12:02.119 --> 01:12:04.300
here at the shell corporation. But Enron was

01:12:04.300 --> 01:12:10.060
still responsible for it. And it was just investor

01:12:10.060 --> 01:12:16.229
fraud. And a lot of the employees, their retirements,

01:12:16.229 --> 01:12:20.550
their pensions, all that stuff was wrapped up

01:12:20.550 --> 01:12:25.829
in Enron stock, which at the height of it was

01:12:25.829 --> 01:12:28.390
hovering around like $90 a share, which is a

01:12:28.390 --> 01:12:32.850
lot for a share of a company, especially when

01:12:32.850 --> 01:12:34.949
you're dealing with as many shares as Enron would

01:12:34.949 --> 01:12:39.390
have. Everything hit the fan. All of a sudden,

01:12:39.409 --> 01:12:42.550
those ninety dollar shares were worth pennies,

01:12:42.550 --> 01:12:46.069
if not less, like almost nothing, pretty much

01:12:46.069 --> 01:12:49.029
nothing. And then in the blink of an eye, all

01:12:49.029 --> 01:12:52.170
these people, not just employees, but all these

01:12:52.170 --> 01:12:56.869
people that had any investments within Ron were

01:12:56.869 --> 01:13:02.050
just out in the cold. And the bigwigs tried tried

01:13:02.050 --> 01:13:09.100
to cut and run the. CEO and founder of Enron

01:13:09.100 --> 01:13:13.979
was convicted of fraud, but then died before

01:13:13.979 --> 01:13:16.060
he could get to sentencing. So never actually

01:13:16.060 --> 01:13:20.439
saw prison for it. Another CEO, Jeffrey Skilling,

01:13:20.520 --> 01:13:24.760
was sentenced to over 14 years in prison, convicted

01:13:24.760 --> 01:13:27.560
on multiple charges of fraud, just all over the

01:13:27.560 --> 01:13:31.000
place, just all kinds of silly behavior and just

01:13:31.000 --> 01:13:34.380
screwing over. Every person that ever put any

01:13:34.380 --> 01:13:40.520
money into Enron, the CFO, Andrew Fastow, is

01:13:40.520 --> 01:13:44.479
the one that spearheaded moving all the assets

01:13:44.479 --> 01:13:48.020
or the liabilities into shell corporations. But

01:13:48.020 --> 01:13:51.619
he got a reduced sentence because he helped get

01:13:51.619 --> 01:13:56.220
the two upper guys. And Arthur Anderson, which

01:13:56.220 --> 01:14:01.390
was an accounting firm that... signed off on

01:14:01.390 --> 01:14:03.890
everything knowing that things were hinky and

01:14:03.890 --> 01:14:08.130
ended up that accounting firm just just went

01:14:08.130 --> 01:14:12.329
away because of the scandal and no one would

01:14:12.329 --> 01:14:15.970
trust you with their money if you were wrapped

01:14:15.970 --> 01:14:20.229
up in enron yeah and uh the whole house of cards

01:14:20.229 --> 01:14:24.390
came tumbling down when a uh the company's vice

01:14:24.390 --> 01:14:27.250
president blew the whistle on everything that

01:14:27.250 --> 01:14:30.729
was going on in 2001 Start from the top. So start

01:14:30.729 --> 01:14:37.069
with Ken, the CEO and founder that died before

01:14:37.069 --> 01:14:39.270
he could be sentenced and then worked her way

01:14:39.270 --> 01:14:44.109
down the line. And Enron is, I think it's one

01:14:44.109 --> 01:14:47.890
of the, it's like the poster child for corporate

01:14:47.890 --> 01:14:54.989
fraud. It is the reason that a lot of laws were

01:14:54.989 --> 01:14:56.869
put into place to prevent this from happening

01:14:56.869 --> 01:15:05.979
again. Was it the Sarbanes -Oxley Act? Sarbanes

01:15:05.979 --> 01:15:10.439
-Oxley Act, yeah. Look at me. Okay. Putting that

01:15:10.439 --> 01:15:15.239
two years of accounting work to good use. Yeah,

01:15:15.260 --> 01:15:17.819
that was one of the biggest things that came

01:15:17.819 --> 01:15:21.460
out of the Enron scandal. And it just put a tighter

01:15:21.460 --> 01:15:24.079
grip on the things that these corporations could

01:15:24.079 --> 01:15:28.039
get away with. And my last one I have for you.

01:15:29.069 --> 01:15:36.489
is, uh, funny, not funny. It's Wells Fargo and

01:15:36.489 --> 01:15:46.149
their tactics on getting more checking, more

01:15:46.149 --> 01:15:48.510
people signed up for checking accounts, credit

01:15:48.510 --> 01:15:52.470
cards, home loans, all that kind of stuff. Creating

01:15:52.470 --> 01:15:56.430
people, fake people. I mean, it seems like Wells

01:15:56.430 --> 01:15:59.609
Fargo is the bank that's always caught up in

01:15:59.609 --> 01:16:03.930
some sort of new whatever. And so this one wasn't

01:16:03.930 --> 01:16:09.149
really a surprise. They set extremely aggressive

01:16:09.149 --> 01:16:15.010
sales targets to try to bring in more people,

01:16:15.050 --> 01:16:18.289
more customers. It's kind of weird to think of

01:16:18.289 --> 01:16:25.100
a bank as a business. Sure. There's competition.

01:16:26.720 --> 01:16:29.840
There's they have to make money somehow in order

01:16:29.840 --> 01:16:33.720
to pay the tellers, pay for just the day to day.

01:16:33.819 --> 01:16:36.579
So it makes if you look at it from that point

01:16:36.579 --> 01:16:39.279
of view, it makes sense that it is a business.

01:16:39.340 --> 01:16:42.699
But on the same hand, it's just like, well, my

01:16:42.699 --> 01:16:44.840
money has to go somewhere and then I have to

01:16:44.840 --> 01:16:48.340
be able to get my money. So there's not really.

01:16:49.079 --> 01:16:52.739
Any option but using a bank. So it's kind of,

01:16:52.739 --> 01:16:55.699
I don't know, it's strange. The whole banking

01:16:55.699 --> 01:17:00.460
industry is very strange. And they ended up creating

01:17:00.460 --> 01:17:05.500
millions of fake accounts connected to people

01:17:05.500 --> 01:17:09.899
that did not exist. Or they would take your information

01:17:09.899 --> 01:17:12.760
and create a whole nother account for you and

01:17:12.760 --> 01:17:17.180
not tell you about it. Huh. Interesting. So they

01:17:17.180 --> 01:17:21.399
would create. Credit cards. They would do lines

01:17:21.399 --> 01:17:25.739
of credit. They would do housing loans that on

01:17:25.739 --> 01:17:29.000
paper existed and they would be connected to

01:17:29.000 --> 01:17:31.779
people. But those people would not be made aware

01:17:31.779 --> 01:17:36.619
until something happened and everything was brought

01:17:36.619 --> 01:17:40.500
to light. I wonder if this could have been helped

01:17:40.500 --> 01:17:44.699
by the favorite of the pod, FreeCreditReport

01:17:44.699 --> 01:17:48.529
.com. I'm sure it could have. I know if I see

01:17:48.529 --> 01:17:54.670
something pop up, I mean, I don't know. I use

01:17:54.670 --> 01:17:58.270
Credit Karma. Is FreeCreditReport .com an app

01:17:58.270 --> 01:18:01.970
now? No. So FreeCreditReport .com is actually

01:18:01.970 --> 01:18:04.789
just a part of one of the big three. So Credit

01:18:04.789 --> 01:18:07.390
Karma goes through all three. So it's TransUnion,

01:18:07.550 --> 01:18:11.689
Equifax, and I don't remember the third one.

01:18:13.130 --> 01:18:18.040
FreeCreditReport .com is part of Equifax. Huh.

01:18:18.040 --> 01:18:20.939
Credit Karma pulls from all of it. That seems

01:18:20.939 --> 01:18:23.979
like a... So you can only get your Equifax from

01:18:23.979 --> 01:18:27.279
FreeCreditReport .com? FreeCreditReport .com

01:18:27.279 --> 01:18:32.140
is a part of Experian. So you can pull just your

01:18:32.140 --> 01:18:34.159
Experian information if you go to that website

01:18:34.159 --> 01:18:37.060
still, which from what I remember, because I

01:18:37.060 --> 01:18:39.939
did look it up after that episode, it does still

01:18:39.939 --> 01:18:42.899
exist. But I think it just routes to Experian.

01:18:43.739 --> 01:18:48.500
Hmm. I know that. But yeah, if something pops

01:18:48.500 --> 01:18:51.939
up, I'm made aware of it and I would see that.

01:18:52.020 --> 01:18:56.939
But I don't think that that's everyone's. I don't

01:18:56.939 --> 01:19:01.319
think a lot of people have their credit top of

01:19:01.319 --> 01:19:05.859
mind very much. I mean, it's mostly when you're

01:19:05.859 --> 01:19:09.659
like in the house buying process, which is what

01:19:09.659 --> 01:19:13.060
we're. That's that's why I'm keeping an eye on

01:19:13.060 --> 01:19:15.779
it right now. is just make sure everything is

01:19:15.779 --> 01:19:19.640
there for whenever we move. But yeah, I mean,

01:19:19.659 --> 01:19:22.880
if I weren't in this position, then I probably

01:19:22.880 --> 01:19:26.880
wouldn't keep as vigilant of an eye on it as

01:19:26.880 --> 01:19:29.640
I do. So I think that it would probably be pretty

01:19:29.640 --> 01:19:35.180
easy to use my information towards something

01:19:35.180 --> 01:19:38.279
like that and get away with it. They were charged

01:19:38.279 --> 01:19:43.869
out the wazoo in fines for their misdeeds. I

01:19:43.869 --> 01:19:45.989
remember it being a big thing when it happened,

01:19:46.050 --> 01:19:48.670
and then it just went away. Because, I mean,

01:19:48.689 --> 01:19:50.109
do you even remember it? I don't remember that

01:19:50.109 --> 01:19:53.609
one either. Yeah. How long ago was that? I remember

01:19:53.609 --> 01:19:58.810
when it happened. It was 2016, so not that long

01:19:58.810 --> 01:20:03.810
ago. Interesting. And then that led to changing

01:20:03.810 --> 01:20:08.229
the whole way they look at the numbers, not just

01:20:08.229 --> 01:20:11.510
for Wells Fargo, but all the other banks, too.

01:20:14.139 --> 01:20:17.079
tactics to maybe not put such a high priority

01:20:17.079 --> 01:20:22.579
or so much stress on getting new clients so that

01:20:22.579 --> 01:20:25.859
people would feel like they needed to cut these

01:20:25.859 --> 01:20:28.920
corners in order to hit those quotas, but instead

01:20:28.920 --> 01:20:32.960
just harass their current customers to sign up

01:20:32.960 --> 01:20:35.579
for something legitimately. Which every time

01:20:35.579 --> 01:20:38.840
I go to an ATM, it's, hey, would you like to

01:20:38.840 --> 01:20:41.699
hear more about this? No, thank you. No, I do

01:20:41.699 --> 01:20:44.229
not. I can't log into my banking app without

01:20:44.229 --> 01:20:46.430
it suggesting that I apply for their credit card.

01:20:46.710 --> 01:20:53.529
Yeah. Oh, OK. So our Greek buddies, Charles Ponzi,

01:20:53.609 --> 01:20:58.689
Bernie Madoff, Victor Lustig, Theranos, Volkswagen,

01:20:59.189 --> 01:21:03.010
Enron, Wells Fargo. What is your favorite fraud

01:21:03.010 --> 01:21:04.970
that we talked about? You know what? I have to

01:21:04.970 --> 01:21:07.010
stick with my my original answer. It's got to

01:21:07.010 --> 01:21:10.220
be the dude who sold the Eiffel Tower. successfully

01:21:10.220 --> 01:21:12.859
and then ran to America when he couldn't sell

01:21:12.859 --> 01:21:17.239
it a second time. I feel like that one at least

01:21:17.239 --> 01:21:19.460
has some kind of like don't get me wrong there's

01:21:19.460 --> 01:21:21.739
not there's not humor in any of this stuff in

01:21:21.739 --> 01:21:24.020
the sense that like people did very much get

01:21:24.020 --> 01:21:26.319
screwed in every every one of these scenarios.

01:21:26.699 --> 01:21:30.420
Every single one. But of them the fact that he

01:21:30.420 --> 01:21:32.460
got away with it the first time because the other

01:21:32.460 --> 01:21:35.960
dude was just not willing to fess up to the fact

01:21:35.960 --> 01:21:40.199
that he bought. 1 .2 million francs worth of

01:21:40.199 --> 01:21:44.319
something that was not for sale. It's pretty

01:21:44.319 --> 01:21:49.239
incredible. Oh, yeah, it is. I think my favorite

01:21:49.239 --> 01:21:52.239
one is probably Theranos because Elizabeth Holmes

01:21:52.239 --> 01:21:56.619
is just such a kooky lady. Yeah. And just very

01:21:56.619 --> 01:22:00.840
unsettling. I may have to watch the dropout now.

01:22:00.979 --> 01:22:04.739
You should. Have you seen it? I've seen bits

01:22:04.739 --> 01:22:07.170
of it. But I don't think I've actually seen a

01:22:07.170 --> 01:22:11.109
full episode. But I'll add it to my list. Maybe

01:22:11.109 --> 01:22:13.369
we can watch a couple episodes and reconvene

01:22:13.369 --> 01:22:16.930
in the next pod. There we go. All right. You

01:22:16.930 --> 01:22:20.810
got anything to leave our peeps with? I don't

01:22:20.810 --> 01:22:23.850
have a good takeaway. Don't commit fraud feels

01:22:23.850 --> 01:22:29.010
like a pretty baseline suggestion. Yeah. But

01:22:29.010 --> 01:22:33.470
if you have any thoughts, if you have a... Story

01:22:33.470 --> 01:22:36.329
that you are most interested in in this episode.

01:22:36.710 --> 01:22:40.729
Leave us a comment on either the thing that you're

01:22:40.729 --> 01:22:46.850
listening to this on or on our TikTok, our Instagram,

01:22:47.109 --> 01:22:53.409
our YouTube, our X at CashExchangePod. Shoot

01:22:53.409 --> 01:22:56.229
us an email if you're so inclined at CashExchangePod

01:22:56.229 --> 01:23:01.699
at gmail .com. And yeah. Subscriptions and likes

01:23:01.699 --> 01:23:05.159
go a long way. Just one little button. That's

01:23:05.159 --> 01:23:08.520
all you got to do. And it helps us out immensely.

01:23:09.560 --> 01:23:11.659
If you learned anything, if we got something

01:23:11.659 --> 01:23:16.800
wrong, let us know. There we go. Yeah. All right.

01:23:16.899 --> 01:23:23.359
My words of wisdom for this episode about schemes

01:23:23.359 --> 01:23:30.880
and scams would be. If you're going to scheme

01:23:30.880 --> 01:23:36.979
and scam, make it funny. Don't make it detrimental

01:23:36.979 --> 01:23:40.699
to someone else. There are scams and schemes

01:23:40.699 --> 01:23:49.380
you can pull that, I mean, it's just, it's a

01:23:49.380 --> 01:23:53.539
little, what would you call that? What's above

01:23:53.539 --> 01:23:59.789
a prank but below a scheme? I think scam is above

01:23:59.789 --> 01:24:02.010
a prank but below a scheme. That's your, like,

01:24:02.010 --> 01:24:06.069
middle ground, I think. Ah, okay. Well, then

01:24:06.069 --> 01:24:12.270
maybe... Now that you mention not making it funny

01:24:12.270 --> 01:24:16.630
necessarily, but I was reminded of a scam that

01:24:16.630 --> 01:24:20.850
was just not funny for the people involved, but

01:24:20.850 --> 01:24:23.789
funny as a person on the internet. Do you remember

01:24:23.789 --> 01:24:27.430
when... I think it was in Scotland or maybe Ireland.

01:24:28.130 --> 01:24:29.869
They decided they were going to make a whole

01:24:29.869 --> 01:24:35.010
Willy Wonka experience. And it was just like

01:24:35.010 --> 01:24:37.750
three people dressed as Oompa Loompas. They had

01:24:37.750 --> 01:24:40.229
a tapestry that was like a tablecloth they bought

01:24:40.229 --> 01:24:43.670
off of Amazon. And there was someone called the

01:24:43.670 --> 01:24:46.109
unknown there for some reason. Like that was

01:24:46.109 --> 01:24:50.510
a character in the series. If you're going to

01:24:50.510 --> 01:24:55.050
pull a scam, do something like that. There you

01:24:55.050 --> 01:25:01.449
go. See? See, that is a funny scam. And if you

01:25:01.449 --> 01:25:03.350
don't know what I'm talking about, look it up.

01:25:04.090 --> 01:25:07.829
So if you're going to pull a scam, make it like

01:25:07.829 --> 01:25:12.850
the Willy Wonka experience. And with that, we'll

01:25:12.850 --> 01:25:17.550
see ya. Peace out, Girl Scouts. I swear, it's

01:25:17.550 --> 01:25:19.409
gonna look like I have the biggest coke problem.

01:25:19.729 --> 01:25:21.250
My nose is so itchy.