Selects: How Black Friday Works
Josh Clark and Charles W. "Chuck" Bryant examine the origins, evolution, and current state of Black Friday in the United States. They trace how the day after Thanksgiving became associated with holiday shopping through department store parades, how the term "Black Friday" arose from Philadelphia police and transportation workers, and how retailers later reshaped its meaning into a profit narrative. The hosts discuss the economics of holiday retail, doorbuster tactics and their risks, violent and deadly crowd incidents, worker and scheduling issues around Thanksgiving openings, and counter-movements like Buy Nothing Day and China's Singles Day.
#2395 - Mariana van Zeller
Joe Rogan talks with investigative journalist Mariana van Zeller about her high‑risk reporting on global black and gray markets, the end of her TV series "Trafficked," and the launch of her new podcast "The Hidden Third" exploring the underground economy and people living outside the law. They discuss drug cartels, counterfeit money, rehab and insurance fraud, the fentanyl and "tranq dope" crisis, and systemic failures in U.S. drug policy and healthcare. The conversation also covers immigration raids and asylum, pharmaceutical corruption around OxyContin and fentanyl, the explosion of sophisticated online scams and scam factories in Asia, political polarization, and Mariana's belief that empathy‑driven journalism is essential to understanding crime and fixing broken systems.
Deepfakes and the War on Truth with Bogdan Botezatu
The episode explores how scams and cybercrime are being transformed by AI, deepfakes, and global connectivity, with cybersecurity expert Bogdan Botezatu explaining the scale of financial losses and the sophisticated business structures behind modern scams. The conversation covers deepfake-driven fraud, psychological manipulation tactics like pig butchering romance scams, technical tools such as honeypots, and vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure like solar inverters. The guests also discuss the challenges of detecting deepfakes, the role of law enforcement partnerships, and why reporting scams is crucial despite the stigma victims often feel.
#483 - Julia Shaw: Criminal Psychology of Murder, Serial Killers, Memory & Sex
Criminal psychologist Julia Shaw discusses the psychology of "evil" as a continuum of traits, covering the dark tetrad, serial killers, murder, and why ordinary people can commit horrific acts under certain conditions. She explains her research on false memories and how easily they can be implanted or distorted, the limits of lie detection and intuitive judgments like creepiness, and how these insights apply to therapy, policing, AI systems, and environmental crime. She also talks about sexuality, bisexuality, polyamory, sexual fantasies and kinks, and her work on green crime and the psychology of those who commit serious environmental offenses.
Two ways AI is changing the business of crime (Two Indicators)
The episode explores two ways artificial intelligence is reshaping criminal activity: AI-powered voice cloning scams targeting individuals and banks, and AI-driven trading bots that can destabilize or manipulate financial markets. In the first half, the hosts demonstrate a voice deepfake scam, talk to a fraud-prevention entrepreneur and a bank executive about weaknesses in voice authentication and the shift to layered security, and discuss how consumers can better protect themselves. In the second half, experts explain how more autonomous trading algorithms can unintentionally collude, raising hard questions about liability, regulation, and the broader risks AI poses to market integrity.