Ridiculous Crime

In the early '80s, America faced a dire existential threat...in the form of "Pac-Man Fever." A moral panic feared that a generation of kids would be lost to the insidious new video game craze. Inspired by First Lady Nancy Reagan's "Just Say No," America's moral scolds fought back. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Zany! That's how people described Robert Baudin, aerial photographer and counterfeiter extraordinaire. But he was more than zany. He was bold. He was crafty. And like Exclamation Perfume, the popular scent of the early 90s, he made a statement without saying a word. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you get when the Supreme Leader of North Korea has a sports crush on Michael Jordan but can't get the NBA great to come see him? Well, you settle for Jordan teammate, Dennis Rodman. And before you know it that one choice leads to international hijinks, political intrigue, denuclearization talks, and the revelation that Dennis Rodman may be a real life superspy.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's one thing to bilk the gullible who are looking to make a quick buck, it's quite another to con those who are looking for healing and salvation. It's terrible. Sickening. Despite the valiant efforts of a skeptic magician, it looks like Peter Popoff is still selling holy water and phony debt relief. This episode sounds like a bummer, but somehow it isn't.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Holy moley! A fake nun, a fake bishop, a con man priest, and the belle of the ball... a pair of hard gambling nuns who embezzle a million dollars from a Catholic school in Los Angeles to fund their secret lifestyle as Vegas whales AKA high roller gamblers who just love the action. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For the second part of this tale about Pietro La Greca Sr., the one-time gigolo, turned arsonist, turned money launderer for the Mexican cartels and who later graduated to running tax scams with the head of the Mexican IRS, his son recounts the effects on his family from having a ridiculous criminal for a father. (Warning: there's frank discussion about terminal cancer in this episode)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Imagine your father is a charming international one-time gigolo turned clothing boutique owner turned arsonist turned money launderer for the Mexican cartels and Mexican presidents. Well, turns out you don't have to imagine it because that's the life of Pietro La Greca Jr. and he told Elizabeth and Zaron all about it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Want to get away from it all? Start your own country? Fight some Dutchmen? Go up against the British crown? That's what Paddy Roy Bates did when he founded Sealand, an island nation off the coast of England. Come for the pirate radio, stay for the dodgy passports! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Want to get away from it all? What if you could climb aboard a homemade raft, and join a group of young and sexy strangers, and together you all drift across the Atlantic, as a Svengaliesque professor stirs up sexual chaos and documents it all for his study of human beings. Sound fun? Or does it sound... ridiculous?!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We look back at the time someone stole Judy Garland's ruby slippers from the movie The Wizard of Oz. With a special update about the fate of the slippers since the episode originally aired!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.