Uncover

The Outlaw Ocean is an anthology podcast that plunges you into the vast and often lawless world of the open seas. Today we're featuring an investigation from S2 called The Shrimp Factory Whistleblower. In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ian Urbina joins Josh Farenello. What started off as a dream job, slowly revealed itself to be a nightmare. Josh moved to southern India to oversee a shrimp-processing plant, but it soon dawned on him that he’d been really been hired as an American face to “whitewash” a forced-labour factory. The largely female employees were effectively trapped on the compound, routinely underpaid, and forced to live in inhumane, unsanitary conditions. Over several months, Josh meticulously gathered evidence that he brought to the Outlaw Ocean team for this exclusive exposé. More episodes of The Outlaw Ocean are available at: https://link.mgln.ai/oo-uncover

Clifford Olson, a notorious serial killer who brutally murdered eleven children in the 1980s, shares his unsettling insights during chilling phone calls from prison. The conversation reveals his manipulative nature and the emotional complexities surrounding his actions. It also encourages reflections on guilt, redemption, and the murky motivations behind his heinous crimes. This dark exploration not only addresses the impact on victims' families but also confronts the uncomfortable truths about understanding the minds of such individuals.

‘They called him the Candyman.’In British Columbia’s lower mainland, children are disappearing. Families are terrified as the local RCMP attempts to find out who is preying on vulnerable kids.At a time when both the public and the police don’t know how to deal with a serial killer, Clifford Olson slips through the cracks.

It’s the summer of 1981 and the RCMP have their sights set on Clifford Olson, who is well known to them as a career criminal and informant. As police investigate, kids continue to be taken. Kids like Judy Kozma, a 14-year-old who never made it home from her shift at McDonald’s. By the time he’s finally arrested, Olson has murdered at least eleven young people. The RCMP’s case against him is weak - until Olson proposes a deal. In the present day, Arlene speaks to family members of those he killed. 

The country is shocked to learn that a serial killer has been paid by the police - $100,000 in return for the locations of his murder victims. Even as decades have passed, opinions are split on this controversial deal. Was Clifford Olson rewarded for his heinous crimes, or was this necessary to stop the killing? And what do the architects of the deal think about it today?

After months speaking to Clifford Olson, Arlene is still searching for answers. So she turns her attention to his mysterious wife: the woman who received the ‘cash for bodies’ payout.  She’s been attacked by the media and faces the scorn of the public - but Arlene knows there is more to Joan Olson than meets the eye. 

Clifford Olson is serving eleven life sentences for killing eleven children. By now, Arlene has been speaking to him for years and is starting to understand this serial killer - and starting to suspect he’s guilty of more murders.Now, she just needs to get him to confess.

Arlene’s patience with Clifford Olson is wearing thin until he says something truly shocking: he’s stolen a handcuff key and plans to escape.And that’s just one of many ways he’s twisted the justice system to his advantage.In the present day, Arlene and Nathaniel grapple with the devastation Olson has left in his wake. Alongside the families and loved ones of his victims, they consider why it’s important to shine light on this difficult story.  

The voice of a killer. The truth uncovered.For years, journalist Arlene Bynon took forbidden jailhouse calls from notorious murderer Clifford Olson. Hundreds of hours of secret recordings — hidden from prison guards and the public — are now being revealed.In Uncover: Calls From a Killer, Arlene, joined by Nathaniel Frum, will expose what Olson told her, what police got wrong, and why authorities paid a serial killer $100,000. Episode 1 is coming May 20, 2025. Binge all episodes early and ad-free by becoming a subscriber here.

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