Story of the Week with Joel Stein

Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian man nicknamed “Putin’s Chef” went from being a street criminal to a hot dog seller to owning a catering company that provides services to the Russian government. Oh yeah– and he’s also the head of a private military company that’s sending soldiers all over the world. How did Prigozhin turn global conflict into a lucrative business? And what could happen if he decides he’s had enough of Vladimir Putin’s rule? 

Julia Ioffe wrote about Prigozhin for her publication, Puck. You can read the full story here: https://puck.news/putins-chef-the-man-behind-russias-shadow-army/  

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In 2013, two women started a Facebook group called “Buy Nothing” for their local community on Bainbridge Island to swap unwanted items for free. But their small group quickly grew, becoming a national movement with millions of users.  A coup within Buy Nothing raised questions about if it’s possible to create a utopian project within a broken society. 

Vauhini Vara reported on the saga of Buy Nothing for Wired Magazine. You can read the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/the-battle-for-buy-nothing/ 

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UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode on 03/09, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York City on charges of financial conspiracy.

For years, rapper Pras Michél has allegedly been doing the bidding of wanted Malaysian billionaire, Jho Low. Pras’s baffling, Icarian story involves one of the greatest financial scandals in history, an international hostage negotiation, and the possibility of a decadeslong prison sentence.

Matthew Campbell co-wrote this story for Business Week. You can read it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-us-china-tensions-scandal-fugees-1mdb/  

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The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award history takes the cake. In 1974, a scrawny white man named Robert Opel ran across the stage butt naked, right as the Best Picture category was being announced. New Yorker magazine writer and Oscars aficionado Michael Schulman recounts the queer, wonderful, and historic life of the 1974 Oscars streaker. 

You can read the full story here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/06/what-became-of-the-oscar-streaker

You can find Michael Schulman’s new book Oscar Wars here.

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Tipping. Dinner parties. Canceling plans. We could all use an etiquette guide that teaches us to live without pissing people off. Luckily, New York Magazine has one – and it went viral. We (politely) asked Choire Sicha, who edited that guide, to come on our show. 

You can read the full list from New York Magazine here: https://www.thecut.com/article/tipping-rules-etiquette-rules.html

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What happens when extinct animal skeletons meet the “Joe Rogan Experience”? The answer is murky, freezing, and may contain submerged cars. This week, we bring on Michael Wilson from the New York Times, who wrote about how a fossil-excavating reality TV star came on Joe Rogan’s podcast to make a bombshell claim: that there are mammoth tusks at the bottom of the East River. What ensues is a no-holds-barred bone rush.

You can read the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/27/nyregion/joe-rogan-mammoth-tusks-east-river.html 

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What happens when you pretend you’re a medical miracle? Lots of things, as TV writer Elisabeth Finch found out – including gaining a job writing for Grey’s Anatomy. For a decade, Finch lied about having a rare and deadly form of cancer and fooled everybody in Hollywood. On this week’s episode, we bring on Peter Kiefer, the reporter who broke the story about Finch’s lies, then interviewed her again seven months later to find out why she told them. 

You can read the full story here: https://theankler.com/p/the-greys-anatomy-liar-confesses 

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Suspicious art dealers, fraudulent documents, and huge egos--the only thing worse than the uppity art world is how much it relies on laundered art from other countries. On this week’s episode, we bring on Sam Tabachnik to unpack his sprawling three-part series for The Denver Post all about one duo’s international operation to smuggle and sell South East Asian art.

You can read the full story here: https://www.denverpost.com/2022/12/01/colorado-denver-art-museum-stolen-art-cambodia-thailand-emma-bunker/

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Robbi Jade Lew broke the world of poker with an incredibly unlikely win against Garrett Adelstein. Her win went viral and the internet exploded with dueling accusations of sexism and cheating. Andrea Chang reported on the scandal for the Los Angeles Times and recounts all the suspicious details.

You can read the full story here: https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-12-14/poker-cheating-investigation-ends 

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Inside the flourishing world of online plant fanclubs lies a deep, dark obsession: people who dedicate their entire lives to caring for Nepenthes, or carnivorous pitcher plants. On this week’s episode, Brian Howey, a former “Nephead” tells us about the carnivorous plant subculture that nearly ate him (and many others) alive. 

You can read the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/nightmare-houseplant-obsession-nepenthes/

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