Coming January 13th 2026.

He said it could save lives. It didn’t. It couldn’t even find golf balls…

Jim McCormick was a cocky English salesman with an outrageous claim: a black plastic gadget that could sniff out bombs using “electromagnetic energy.” The science was pure fiction. But in the panic after 9/11, governments bought the lie - paying up to $60,000 for a device that started life as a $20 novelty golf-ball finder.

McCormick sold hope to armies and security forces across the globe. But hope turned deadly. Behind the deals were fragmented friendships, betrayals, and a truth so dangerous it would take years to drag into the light.

Alice Levine uncovers the jaw-dropping story of a con that cost countless lives - and the unlikely people who stopped at nothing to uncover the truth.

Explosive Lies is a Global Original podcast, produced by Forest Sounds in partnership with Dentsu Entertainment.

Listen to all episodes on Global Player.

Lewis Goodall is joined by Alice Levine to let you in on a big secret. Something explosive is coming to this feed... your next podcast binge.

Welcome to Unmissables, home to our most unmissable podcast series - the mysteries, the scams, the stories you can't stop listening to. It's a one stop shop for incredible real stories collated here for you.

Follow or subscribe and get ready to listen to Explosive Lies. And if you haven't already, check out Filthy Ritual and Coining It.

Listen to all episodes on Global Player.

Episode 6. Who was the real James Parker? Lewis Goodall pieces together the truth behind the would-be Robin Hood, as his friends face jail for their actions. Penniless and abandoned, James is still holding one last twist - while the police close in on his missing millions.

Listen to all episodes of Coining It with Lewis Goodall on Global Player.

Episode 5. The party’s over. When one of James’ friends goes to the police, detectives finally connect the dots. James is hauled in for questioning - but doesn't give a monkeys. As greed and paranoia take hold, his last friendships fracture beyond repair.

Listen to all episodes of Coining It with Lewis Goodall on Global Player.

Episode 4. James Parker’s secret has been rumbled. But he’s not about to give up his millionaire spending. And instead of handing back all his glitched bitcoin, he and his financial advisor have come up with a deal to broker. Meanwhile, James’ friends realise the depth of the trouble they’re all in... James wants his Bitcoin back.

Listen to all episodes of Coining It with Lewis Goodall on Global Player.

Episode 3. Destination: Dubai. James Parker and his newly hired financial advisor are on the trip of a lifetime - to meet a man who can turn their glitched Bitcoin into gold and cash. But just as they’re about to board the plane, James gets a call. It’s the owner of the trading platform… and he wants his money back. Now.

Listen to all episodes of Coining It with Lewis Goodall on Global Player.

Episode 2. James Parker has turned a digital glitch into a fortune. Most would keep it quiet - but not James. The newly minted millionaire flaunts his wealth across Blackpool, playing Robin Hood to a tight-knit circle who share his secret. But his spending spree hasn’t gone unnoticed. One cop is watching, puzzled by the sudden riches of a man who, until recently, had nothing.

Listen to all episodes of Coining It with Lewis Goodall on Global Player.

Episode 1. In Blackpool, one of the UK’s poorest cities, James Parker lives in a damp, mouldy flat. He’s in his mid-fifties, broke, but surrounded by a small circle of close friends. Then, one day, everything changes. James stumbles across a glitch in a Bitcoin trading platform - a bug that could turn his fortunes around overnight. What follows is a wild, true story of instant riches, risky bets, and a chain of events none of them can control.

Listen to all episodes of Coining It with Lewis Goodall on Global Player.

In a damp Blackpool flat, James Parker is broke, restless, and stuck in a life going nowhere - until he discovers a glitch in a Bitcoin trading platform that begins pouring millions into his account.

Most people would keep it quiet. James doesn’t.

He starts handing out money, buying cars for mates, throwing lavish parties in a town where fortunes are rare. To some he’s a hero, a modern-day Robin Hood. But as the spending spirals and the police start asking questions, cracks begin to show. Deals get darker, loyalties shift, and James is left chasing the very people he once made rich.

How far would you go if the money felt endless?

And what would it cost when it finally ran out?

From Global and Free Turn, Lewis Goodall uncovers the true story of a man who found a crack in the system and pulled his whole world through it.

All episodes available on Global Player now.

Launched in 2013 after an early buyout by Twitter, Vine quickly grew into one of the fastest growing platforms on the internet. The app created an entirely new category of online content: short, user-generated videos. It became the home of online creativity, birthed beloved memes and viral trends, and introduced a whole new generation of celebrity: the influencer. So, how did an app that was ten steps ahead die only three years after launch?

Credits:

Benedict Townsend - Host & Creator

Mary Goodhart - Producer & Creator

Kevyah Cardoso - Narrative & Creative Producer

Patrick Lee - Sound Design & Score

Chris Janes - Mix

Lucy Chisholm Batten - Legal

Sophie Snelling - Executive Producer

Al Riddel - Head of Factual Podcasts

Vicky Etchells - Director of Podcasts

Archive acknowledgments:

CBS Sunday Morning/'From 2005: Four young internet entrepreneurs'/CBS News

Jawed Karim/‘Me at the zoo’/YouTube

Channel 4 News Theme/‘Best Endeavours’/Alan Hawkshaw

Channel 4 News/’A year of Vine: the six second videos rivalling Twitter and Instagram’

The Fox News Channel Theme/‘The Five’

FOX 5/’CEO Chris Dessi Discusses Vine on Fox 5’/Brayden Shanks/The Fox News Channel

PacificRimVideoPress/’Vine Famous Jake Paul Interview about Getting Girls, High School, Fave Shoes & More!’

Pop Trigger/’Breaking: Twitter Officially Shutting Down Vine’

FOX 4 Now/’Twitter Kills Vine App’/The Fox News Channel

Sky News/’TikTok to be banned in the US from Sunday, Supreme Court rules’

BBC News/’Donald Trump’s inauguration set to take place’

NBC News/’TikTok is back up again in the U.S. following a shutdown overnight’

Mark Zuckerberg/’Mark Zuckerberg announces the end of Meta's fact-checking program in the United States’/Facebook

Artwork acknowledgments:

Cathleen Dovolis

Brandon Moore 

B Bowen

Nicholas Fraser

James Morosky

Ava Ryan