Advertise on podcast: Lawless Planet

Lauren Malloy was a baby when her mother, Lori, was murdered in East Providence, Rhode Island. For thirty years, no one told her. Everyone said Lori died of natural causes. Then a stranger sent Lauren a message — and the lie collapsed. Now Lauren is investigating her own mother’s murder. She’s recorded hundreds of hours of interviews with law enforcement, family, childhood friends, and people who won’t stop contradicting each other. Every answer opens a darker question. Every person she trusts seems to be hiding something. And the closer she gets to the truth, the more she realizes the people she trusts may be the ones with the most to hide. A 10-part true crime investigation hosted by the victim’s daughter. Lauren’s mission: to finally uncover the identity of Lori’s killer.  Audible subscribers can binge all 10 episodes early and ad-free right now. Join Audible in the Audible App or by subscribing on Apple Podcasts. Listen now: HERE  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you hear the term “civil disobedience,” most people think about mass demonstrations. But sometimes, the most effective protest involves a single individual willing to disrupt the system. In 2008, Tim DeChristopher aka “Bidder 70” bought $1.8 million worth of oil and gas leases in Utah that he never intended to pay for. Tim was sentenced to two years in federal prison and became an accidental martyr in the climate change movement. Nearly 20 years later, we ask him: Did it make a difference?  Featured in this episode:  Tim DeChristopher Sources: Gravitas Documentaries’s Bidder 70 Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “America’s Most Creative Climate Criminal” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/meet-americas-most-creative-climate-criminal-196050/  Bibi van der Zee’s Inside Climate News article “Utah Climate Activist Found Guilty of Making False Bids on Energy Leases” https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04032011/tim-dechristopher-utah-oil-gas-auction-trial-activist/  Brandon Loomis’ The Salt Lake Tribune article “DeChristopher goes on trial, but does he have a defense?” https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=51289931&itype=CMSID See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When you hear the term “civil disobedience,” most people think about mass demonstrations. But sometimes, the most effective protest involves a single individual willing to disrupt the system. In 2008, Tim DeChristopher aka “Bidder 70” bought $1.8 million worth of oil and gas leases in Utah that he never intended to pay for. Tim was sentenced to two years in federal prison and became an accidental martyr in the climate change movement. Nearly 20 years later, we ask him: Did it make a difference? Featured in this episode: Tim DeChristopher Sources: Gravitas Documentaries’s Bidder 70 Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “America’s Most Creative Climate Criminal” https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/meet-americas-most-creative-climate-criminal-196050/ Bibi van der Zee’s Inside Climate News article “Utah Climate Activist Found Guilty of Making False Bids on Energy Leases” https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04032011/tim-dechristopher-utah-oil-gas-auction-trial-activist/ Brandon Loomis’ The Salt Lake Tribune article “DeChristopher goes on trial, but does he have a defense?” https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=51289931&itype=CMSID

With the arrival of the second Trump administration, many employees at the Environmental Protection Agency have felt like they’re under attack – from their own boss. Under its new chief Lee Zeldin, the EPA has slashed budgets, programs, and staff, all in the name of what Zeldin calls rooting out “waste, fraud, and abuse” and “driving a dagger through the heart of climate-change religion.” On this episode, we talk to EPA insiders about how the cuts have impacted their lives and careers, and the programs they care so passionately about. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Don Blankenship grew up poor in the heart of West Virginia coal country, but rose to become a union-busting CEO with a track record prioritizing profits over safety. For decades, he operated with seeming impunity, even as his company, Massey Energy, spilled toxic coal slurry into local waterways, and its miners died in preventable accidents. Then, in 2010, a disaster too big to ignore finally brought Blankenship down. But what does his long career reveal about an industry that the Trump administration is trying to revitalize? Sources: Peter A. Galuszka's book Thunder on the Mountain: Death at Massey and the Dirty Secrets Behind Big Coal Sludge documentary Mine War on Blackberry Creek documentary CBS’s 60 Minutes report “From inmate to candidate: Who is Don Blankenship?” Jeff Goodell’s Rolling Stone article “Don Blankenship: The Dark Lord of Coal” https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/don-blankenship-the-dark-lord-of-coal-country-184288/ See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In July 1979, just months after a nuclear accident at Three Mile Island gripped the nation, the largest radioactive spill in U.S. history quietly unfolded on a Navajo reservation in Church Rock, New Mexico — and almost no one noticed. A dam at a uranium mine tailings pond burst, causing 94 million gallons of toxic waste to flood a nearby river, poisoning the water, livestock, and people. Through the eyes of an activist who worked at the mine, we reveal how decades of corporate cover-ups and government indifference turned the ‘yellow dirt’ on America's largest Native reservation into something dangerous. Featured in this episode:  Larry King Sources: Yellow Dirt: An American Story of a Poisoned Land and a People Betrayed by Judy Pasternak The River that Harms documentary Marley Shebala’s Navajo Times article “Poison in the earth” https://navajotimes.com/news/2009/0709/072309uranium.php  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On New Year’s Eve 2024, an Uber driver named Jonathan Rinderknecht allegedly started a fire in the Pacific Palisades. The fire was quickly contained, but it lingered on underground as a “zombie fire.” Days later, fueled by Santa Ana Winds, it exploded into the Palisades Fire, the most destructive conflagration in Los Angeles history. A second fire, ignited just hours later, destroyed much of neighboring Altadena. In the aftermath, angry residents wanted accountability – but who is to blame for a fire when the earth is now a tinderbox? Featured in this episode: Brad Weisshaupt, LA County Fire Department Traci Park, LA City Council India Bradley Nic Arnzen, Altadena Town Council Daniel Swain, University of California Sources: The Los Angeles Times KTLA 5 News See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Chemical manufacturers like DuPont and 3M have invented nearly 15,000 synthetic compounds called PFAS, better known as “forever chemicals” because of how slowly they break down. They’re in the soil, our food, even our bodies. When the towns of Parkersburg, West Virginia and Hoosick Falls, New York found PFAS in their water supply, they fought to hold the chemical companies accountable – and exposed just how long DuPont scientists had known about the risks. Featured in this episode: Mariah Blake Sources: This episode relied heavily on the new book, They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals, by Mariah Blake https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/554198/they-poisoned-the-world-by-mariah-blake/   And Ms. Blake’s 2015 article in the HuffPost Highline, “Welcome to Beautiful Parkersburg, West Virginia: Home to one of the most brazen, deadly corporate gambits in U.S. history” https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/welcome-to-beautiful-parkersburg/  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2017, Hurricane Maria, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded, battered the island of Puerto Rico. In the aftermath, big banks, crypto bros and other ‘disaster capitalists’ swooped in to take advantage of the crisis. No one realized the full scope of death and destruction until a scrappy team of journalists started to investigate. They exposed a corrupt system that continues to threaten Puerto Rico’s power grid, its people and the environment. Featured in this episode: Carla Minet Sources: The investigative journalism of Carla Minet and her team at the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo https://periodismoinvestigativo.com/  Naomi Klein’s book The Battle for Paradise: Puerto Rico Takes on the Disaster Capitalists  and her Intercept article “There’s Nothing Natural About Puerto Rico’s Disaster” https://theintercept.com/2018/09/21/puerto-rico-hurricane-maria-disaster-capitalism/  Yalixa Rivera and Jonathan Levin’s Bloomberg article “Can Crypto, Cannabis, and Nicolas Cage Boost Puerto Rico’s Economy?” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-10/can-crypto-cannabis-and-nicolas-cage-boost-puerto-rico-s-economy  David Yaffe-Bellany and Laura N. Pérez Sánchez’s New York Times article “The Unraveling of a Crypto Dream” https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/13/technology/brock-pierce-crypto-puerto-rico.html  Fernando Tormos-Aponte’s In These Times “How an Investigative Journalism Center Helped Oust Puerto Rican Gov. Rosselló” https://inthesetimes.com/article/investigative-journalism-rossello-puerto-rico-protests See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

In 2011, the people of Ecuador shocked the world by winning a multibillion judgment against Chevron for failing to clean up its oil operations in the Amazon. But back in the U.S., Chevron responded by suing their most prominent legal adversary, Steven Donziger. And as the oil giant challenged the Ecuadorian verdict, Donziger found himself trapped in his own Kafkaesque legal nightmare, one that threatened to overshadow the plight of the people he was trying to help. Featured in this episode: Steven Donziger Pablo Fajardo Sources: William Langewiesche’s Vanity Fair profile “Jungle Law” https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2007/5/jungle-law Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “Reversal of Fortune” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/09/reversal-of-fortune-patrick-radden-keefe Joe Berlinger’s documentary “Crude” Paul M. Barrett’s book Law of the Jungle See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

After Texaco (now Chevron) discovered oil in Ecuador, they left behind an ecological and public health disaster so severe that experts have dubbed it the "Amazon Chernobyl.” The local population then sued the company sparking an epic courtroom drama spanning multiple decades and costing billions of dollars. Leading that fight are two outspoken attorneys: an American outsider not afraid to make enemies, and an Ecuadorian lawyer who risked his life to stand up for his people. Featured in this episode: Pablo Fajardo Steven Donziger Sources: William Langewiesche’s Vanity Fair profile “Jungle Law” https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2007/5/jungle-law  Patrick Radden Keefe’s New Yorker article “Reversal of Fortune” https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/01/09/reversal-of-fortune-patrick-radden-keefe  Joe Berlinger’s documentary “Crude”  Paul M. Barrett’s book Law of the Jungle See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Elon Musk’s xAI opened a data center called Colossus in South Memphis for its chatbot, Grok, local politicians and business leaders hailed it as the first step towards turning Greater Memphis into “America’s Digital Delta.” But residents soon noticed they were getting sick – and blamed the data center’s methane gas turbines, installed without permits to support the center’s massive electricity needs. Now South Memphis has become a flashpoint in the growing debate over the human and environmental costs of powering AI. Audible subscribers can listen to all episodes ad-free right now. Join Audible today by downloading the Audible app. Featured in this episode: KeShaun Pearson Sources: Reporting by the Memphis Commercial Appeal Time’s “We Are the Last of the Forgotten: Inside the Memphis Community Battling Elon Musk’s xAI”  https://time.com/7308925/elon-musk-memphis-ai-data-center/  The Wall Street Journal’s “Elon Musk Gambles Billions in Memphis to Catch Up on AI” https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musk-xai-memphis-tennessee-power-dec4c70d  The Natural Resources Defense Council’s “The AI Boom Is Stressing the Grid—But It Doesn’t Have to Be This Way” https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ai-boom-stressing-grid-it-doesnt-have-be-way See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When it comes to organic food, can we really trust what’s on our plate? Do we understand how it was grown or raised? The organic food industry is largely built on the honor system. More than a decade ago, a mild-mannered Missouri farmer exploited that system, raking in millions of dollars and leading a double life in Las Vegas. As it turns out, that wasn’t the only secret he was hiding. Featured in this episode:  Glen Borgerding Jacob Schunk Tony Morfitt  Sources: Ian Parker’s reporting in The New Yorker https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/15/the-great-organic-food-fraud Mike Hendricks’ reporting in The Kansas City Star https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article239079858.html Trial documents from the Department of Justice’s case U.S. v. Randy Constant https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndia/pr/field-schemes-fraud-results-over-decade-federal-prison-leader-largest-organic-fraud See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

When Jessey Baca returned from Balad Air Base in Iraq, he began experiencing strange health symptoms: fevers, chills, headaches, difficulty breathing. The VA tried to write off his condition as PTSD, but Jessey and his wife Maria would eventually learn that the likely cause was exposure to burn pits, where the military was incinerating trash with jet fuel. And they weren’t alone. Thousands of veterans were sick and dying from burn pit exposure.  Featured in this episode: Kelly Kennedy Jessey and Maria Baca Sources: Kelly Kennedy’s reporting for The Military Times (https://www.militarytimes.com/) and The War Horse (https://thewarhorse.org/) The New Republic’s “The Things They Burned”: https://newrepublic.com/article/138058/things-burned  The New York Times’ “The Soldiers Came Home Sick. The Government Denied It Was Responsible”: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/11/magazine/military-burn-pits.html See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

The tug-of-war over undeveloped land in the U.S. is nothing new, but in 2014 Cliven and Ammon Bundy escalated their dispute over cattle grazing permits in Nevada to another level. Their clash against the federal Bureau of Land Management would galvanize a movement – and set the stage for one of the largest armed uprisings against the government in American history, with lasting consequences for the environment. Featured in this episode:  Betsy Gaines Quammen Sources: Betsy Gaines Quammen's book American Zion: Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the West PBS’s Frontline’s documentary American Patriot. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.