Cheat!

In 2007, a customer walked into a copy shop to get over 700 pages of information copied onto CDs. The shop assistant, a massive Formula 1 fan, recognised the Ferrari logo on the documents and took a closer peak. It was page after page of diagrams and highly confidential notes on Ferrari’s F1 car. 

But the customer who brought it in was married to McLaren’s Chief Designer - one of Ferrari’s biggest rivals.

A Somethin' Else production.

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In 2002, Rod Blagojevich was elected governor of Illinois—the first Democrat to hold the seat in thirty years.

He entered office with a progressive agenda and a promise to clean up the wide-spread corruption that had plagued Illinois' government.

But all of that changed with the 2008 presidential election, when Blagojevich saw an opportunity to capitalize on…for his own gain.

A Somethin’ Else production.

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Is it cheating if it is state sanctioned? It’s the late 20th century and the UK is going through a period of civil unrest, there are protests and demonstrations every week. In an effort to control the protests, British police hatch a secret undercover operation…one that would take them behind the picket lines and into the heart (or hearts) of many activist groups.

A Somethin' Else Production.

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When biographer Lee Israel’s career falls apart, she tries desperately to find a way to support herself. No one wants to work with her, she’s behind on rent, and her beloved cat needs urgent medical attention.

With less than $40 dollars in her pocket, she notices that there's demand for old letters from deceased authors. So, she buys a bunch of typewriters and starts forging her own.

In this episode of Cheat! Alzo digs into the real story behind the movie Can You Ever Forgive Me? to find out just how the fakes get away with it.

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In 2003 news spread of a government backed raid on a small laboratory near the San Francisco airport. The lab was called BALCO.

As two journalists at the local paper started to dig deeper they began to realise this raid would uncover secrets that would change the face of sport forever. What they didn’t realise however was how this story would test their own resolve and put their freedom at risk.

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In 2007, two Iowa-born brothers launched an artisanal chocolate company, Mast Brothers, out of an apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—the hipster heart of the growing farm-to-table movement.

Mast quickly became a well-known operation, partly because their focus was on creating quality chocolate that only required two ingredients: cocoa beans and sugar. And these speciality bars—hand wrapped in expensive, beautifully designed paper—boasted a $10 price tag.

It was something people were willing to spend for a product that also came with a compelling origin story. But that all changed when customers started to question the narrative of what they had been sold.

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The Kabbalah Centre took off when Madonna changed her name to Esther and joined their ranks. Soon enough, Ashton Kutcher, Victoria Beckham and many other celebrities were wearing the Kabbalah Centre’s signature red string bracelet.

But, the centre’s teachings were unconventional. They claimed that you could simply scan the words of the Zohar, even if you didn’t understand the Aramaic text, and reap spiritual benefits.

Journalist John Sweeney started an investigation and sent in an undercover agent to infiltrate the centre. What he found out was shocking.

A Somethin' Else production.

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In the US, around 700,000 gay, lesbian or bisexual people have received some form of conversion therapy. In the UK, thousands of LGBTQIA+ people have been offered or are undergoing it. But why and how do so many people end up going through this experience? And paying for it.

Chaim Levin was a 13 year old Jewish boy from an orthodox background the moment he realised he was gay. He was stood in a synagogue at his own bar mitzvah reading a passage from the Torah, that stated homosexuality was an abomination. That was the beginning of years of conversion therapy.

McRae Game spent 28 years of his life trying to convince other gay Christian folks to lead heterosexual lives. His organisation, one of the largest conversion therapy ministries in America, taught celibacy, then advised people to get married and start families with a member of the opposite sex. It wasn’t until 2019 however that McRae denounced the practice he had spent over two decades promoting and came to terms with who he was.

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On the outside Helen Naylor had a pretty standard childhood. She had a father, a mother and roof over her head. But all was not as it seemed. In 2016, 2 years after her mother’s death, Helen discovered her diaries. And in those diaries lay not only the truth about her mother’s medical conditions. But also the truth about Helen’s upbringing.

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Towards the end of 2008, hundreds of people across the United States were falling ill with salmonella poisoning. The outbreak was eventually traced back to one company: The Peanut Corporation of America (PCA). But this wasn’t your average case of corporate misconduct. In fact, federal investigations into PCA revealed a much more sinister (and sickening) story. 

A Somethin’ Else Production.

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