Quite possibly the biggest trial in modern history played out in front of the backdrop of the Rodney King riots that reshaped the cultural discussion on police brutality in Los Angeles - and to get a deeper understanding of how O.J. Simpson's legal team used the social impact of Rodney King's story to their advantage Rachael calls upon her friend, Jennifer Gimenez, who helped Rodney get sober for an overview.

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You know those messages that you get all the time, the ones that pop up out of nowhere? They could be real, but something about them seems fishy. You likely dismiss these texts and emails as mere annoyances, thinking you’ve stopped some random stranger from ripping you off. But the shocking truth is, the person behind that message might be trapped inside a “scam factory” on the other side of the world and forced to scam others against their will. From Wondery, comes a new series about the brutal reality behind these operations, where one family discovers a horrifying truth: the only way out is to scam their way out.

Listen Now: Wondery.fm/Scam_Factory 

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This story has it all - celebrity, money, fame, sex, scandal, abuse, crime, and murder. This is the story of O.J. Simpson and everyone in his orbit...between the dazzling record breaking runs, athletic achievements, tv shows, movies and huge endorsement deals lay a labyrinth of sins, pride, lust, greed, envy.... Sins that couldn't stay in the shadows forever and would slowly erode the man the world believed he was.

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In this episode we highlight the pressures and motivations that led Jim Jones to migrate his flock to the middle of the jungle in a South American country in a location so remote - escape was almost impossible. Until Leo Ryan, a U.S. Congressman, touches down in jungle on a congressional investigation into the communist settlement known as Jonestown. After offering asylum to Jim Jones' brainwashed, religious hostages; Leo Ryan and his party of reporters and government employees are ambushed at the airstrip which they flew in on and Leo Ryan is murdered. What happens next is horrific and everyone knows about the Jonestown Kool-Aid cocktail.

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Jim Jones & The Peoples Temple Part Two

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Jim Jones was an American cult leader and mass murderer who founded and led the Peoples Temple between 1955 and 1978. In what Jones termed "revolutionary suicide", Jones and the members of his inner circle planned and orchestrated a mass murder-suicide in his remote jungle commune at Jonestown, Guyana, on November 18, 1978.

As a child Jim Jones was entranced with two things - Pentecostal preachers and Communism. Reflecting back on his participation in the Communist Party, Jones said that he asked himself, "How can I demonstrate my Marxism? The thought was, infiltrate the church."

AND SO HE DID.

He began his religious career in 1952, Jones was hired as student pastor to the children at the Sommerset Southside Methodist Church, where he launched a project to create a playground that would be open to children of all races. Jones continued to visit and speak at Pentecostal churches while serving as Methodist student pastor. 

He felt called to the pomp and circumstance of the Pentecostal movement. There was something about the attention that he just could not get enough of... that would lead him to start his own Church, The Peoples Temple.

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Marvin "Popcorn" Sutton was born on October 5, 1946. He was as Appalachian as you can get. The accent was off the charts and he had moonshine in his blood.

Legend says that he only lit one cigarette in this life, the rest lit by the other cigs he was smoking. He was a moonshiner, a boot-legger and an outlaw. 

LINK TO FILM COMPOSER STEVE'S GOFUNDME: https://gofund.me/51ad26ed

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Rachael and Greg are back in Indiana on a late holiday visit and after hearing tall tales of the trade we decided to welcome, Rachael's very own Father In-Law - Mike Hunter onto the podcast to tell us about some of the scariest moments he experienced as a High Voltage electrician during his 37 year career.

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Part Two of Vanessa's story.

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Family friend of our host, Vanessa Paven, is like a second sister to Rachael so when her life was turned upside down by love bombs, gaslighting and a disappearing act - we had to know more... this is only part one.

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