But This Time It's Different

How To Smuggle A Diamond: From Blood Mines to Bling Lines


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In this episode, Alex and Sinead crack open the glittering facade of the diamond smuggling world.

From mine to market, diamonds are sold as symbols of eternal love and ethical sourcing. But behind the velvet-lined counters lies a murky underworld of off-the-books deals, ghost shipments, and blood-soaked bling.

They follow the secret paths diamonds take to dodge regulations, inflate value, and quietly change hands. Along the way, they interrogate the so-called “Kimberley Process” (spoiler: it’s about as effective as a paper umbrella in a monsoon) and explore the economic and human costs of keeping the diamond dream alive. It’s shiny. It’s sketchy. It’s capitalism with carats.

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But This Time It's DifferentBy Brought to you by Sinead O'Sullivan and Alex Chalmers