Roberto Calvi, a man guarding a dangerous secret about the Vatican Bank’s criminal activities, sends a threatening letter to the Pope. A week later on June 17th, 1982 he’s found dead hanging from a bridge in London. British police call it suicide, but questions and conspiracies swirl. Forty years on, lawyer Nicolo Majnoni gets a tip there might be more to the story and embarks on a quest to uncover the truth. Was Roberto Calvi, aka God’s Banker, killed? And if so, by whom?

Shadow Kingdom is a new series from Crooked Media and Campside Media. Each season starts with a crime, and as the layers are peeled back to find out who or what is at the center of it, a larger system at play is revealed. 

Get early access to the full season by joining Crooked’s Friends of the Pod at crooked.com/friends. 

Chapter 1: Bug’s Plan. It’s 2014. Adelanto is a bankrupt city in the California desert known for its massive detention centers and not much else. Then, a stranger comes to town with a wild idea to make Adelanto great again: Become the first city in Southern California to legalize commercial weed cultivation. Subscribe to Dreamtown to hear episode two right now, wherever you get your podcasts.

Zhanna recounts the night of her father’s assassination. In the days following, there is a massive memorial march through the center of Moscow and Boris Nemtsov becomes a symbol of opposition to Putin. Years later, Zhanna reflects on what her father’s story means for Russia today. 

If you want to learn more about the stories of Russians who are standing up to autocracy and how you can help support their work, check out https://nemtsovfund.org/en/RussiansForChange/

Putin annexes Crimea and Nemtsov goes hard in his opposition to the war in Ukraine. Banners with Nemtsov’s face on them calling him a “national traitor” line the streets of Moscow. Zhanna tries to persuade her father to leave Russia.

If you want to learn more about the stories of Russians who are standing up to autocracy and how you can help support their work, check out https://nemtsovfund.org/en/RussiansForChange/

As Putin tightens his grip on the Kremlin, Boris Nemtsov tries to build an opposition movement. He joins forces with a young and tenacious leader named Alexei Navalny. Their alliance culminates in the biggest protest Russia has seen since the days of the Soviet Union. It also sparks a brutal crackdown.

If you want to learn more about the stories of Russians who are standing up to autocracy and how you can help support their work, check out https://nemtsovfund.org/en/RussiansForChange/

The oligarchs install Vladimir Putin to replace Yeltsin as the president. But it soon becomes clear Putin has no interest in being the lapdog of the rich and powerful. Boris Nemtsov goes into opposition and starts to face the consequences. 

If you want to learn more about the stories of Russians who are standing up to autocracy and how you can help support their work, check out https://nemtsovfund.org/en/RussiansForChange/

Boris Nemtsov goes to Moscow as Deputy Prime Minister to take on Russia’s newly-minted oligarchs in a showdown that would determine the future of the country. He’ll find out whether idealism can trump money and power. 

If you want to learn more about the stories of Russians who are standing up to autocracy and how you can help support their work, check out https://nemtsovfund.org/en/RussiansForChange/

In the wake of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, a young physicist named Boris Nemtsov becomes active in politics and runs for office as the Soviet Union is collapsing. Decades later, his daughter Zhanna Nemtsova tells the story of how her father became the heir apparent to the Russian presidency.

If you want to learn more about the stories of Russians who are standing up to autocracy and how you can help support their work, check out https://nemtsovfund.org/en/RussiansForChange/