Yeet the Rich

We are back to talk about Rick Singer and the College Admissions scandal!  Last episode we talked about Rick Singer leaping over the line from unethical lies on applications to setting up a crazy system to cheat on the SAT and using his so-called Side door to bribe coaches for a guaranteed college acceptance.

Rick went from a small scale operation focused on Sacramento, California to a nation/world spanning company called “The EDGE College and Career Network” promising the “Key to Winning the College Game.” 

And with every new client Rick's company would move up the social ladder until he was providing his college consulting services to some of the most wealthy and famous people in California. 

This episode we will talk a little about the changing financial calculus that created such fertile ground for someone like Rick Singer. Then we will get into some of the celebrities who became accomplices in Singers frauds. Hope you enjoy!

Sources:

“Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal” by Nicole LaPorte (2021)

“Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & The Making of the College Admissions Scandal” by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz (2020)

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

We are back this week to continue the story of the College Admissions Scandal and Operation Varsity Blues!

Getting into college is getting harder and more complicated. Many Ivy League Admissions rates have fallen as low as 3% which is nuts. Parents are looking for a guaranteed way for their kids to succeed and get into the best schools.

Wealthy and Powerful Parents have had back door paths to ensure the best education for their kids.Paying for Elite Private Preschools, Kindergartens, and Prep Schools.Hiring Private tutors and SAT Prep specialists. And ofcourse a timely donation to your school of choice. 

Because of changes in Applications as well as a growing number of Americans going to college, these tried and true tactics for success began losing effectiveness. Parents start turning to Private college counselors but most refuse to promise 100% that they can get your kid into their #1 School. Everyone except for Rick Singer, College Counselor to the stars. Rick had no compunction  about making bold promises about his track record and his ability to get any kid into the most prestigious of schools. 

As a College Consultant this tendency to embellish went into overdrive. He taught his clients to Create a brand for themselves by picking the most compelling part of their story and enhancing that truth into something that didn't always resemble reality. And this was just the beginning of his ethically dubious tactics. 

This Episode we will dig deep into all of Rick's best shenanigans. We will meet the coaches and administrators who he pulled into his schemes and some of the families who benefited from his frauds. 

Sources:

“Guilty Admissions: The Bribes,Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal” by Nicole LaPorte (2021)

“Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & The Making of the College Admissions Scandal” by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz (2020)

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

This week we are talking about the 2012-2018 College Admissions scandal. This is definitely a story of the rich and powerful families having all the advantages when it comes to college education. And a Man named Rick Singer who came along for the right price was willing to bend the rules and break the law in order to give his clients just one more edge. 

In a world where a regular college degree means less and less and acceptance rates at the elite schools are plummeting, parents are desperately looking for some sure fire way to guarantee a perfect future for their kids. 

For years wealthy and powerful parents have been able to pay for the best prep schools and private SAT tutors to help their children get the best possible chances to get into the most prestigious schools. 

And when that didn't seem like enough their next step was to turn to a man named Rick Singer. Singer was a Private College Counselor who catered to California's Rich and Powerful parents. Singer offered a one of a kind concierge service to his “clients”. A one stop shop for everything college admissions.

He would set everything up. He calls the Admissions offices, sets up the tours including meetings with key professors. For some he even made car, plane, and hotel reservations. 

All of this seems pretty above board and great. And this is similar to what most private college counselors do. But Rick took it much much further into some ethically dubious and then Illegal waters. 

At first he was merely embellishing his clients' applications. Changing the kids from players on their basketball team to the Captain of the team. 

But pretty soon he was  writing essays for the kids and setting really convoluted ways to cheat on the SAT. 

And eventually he discovered a side door into elite colleges through athletics departments with some corrupted coaches and athletics administrators.  And eventually culminating in A DOJ Investigation called Operation Varsity Blues ending in over 50 convictions of Parents, Coaches, and of course Rick himself. I'm excited to get into another wacky investigation. Eventually Rick gets flipped  and starts helping the DOJ do sting operations for a reduced sentence. But that's all a bit later!

This episode we are going to talk about the increasingly intense and crazy college admissions world and the insane helicopter parents that made this scandal possible. Then we will talk about Rick's childhood and early career. Up to him starting his first Consulting company “Future Stars”

Sources:

“Guilty Admissions: The Bribes,Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal” by Nicole LaPorte (2021)

“Unacceptable: Privilege, Deceit & The Making of the College Admissions Scandal” by Melissa Korn and Jennifer Levitz (2020)

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

This week we are wrapping up the Jim and Tammy Faye story. We finally get to some water slide action. But this victory is very short lived. The house of cards finally tumbles down. 

The allegations against Jim finally begin coming into the light. And at the same time other powerful ministers begin trying to turn the Bakker's downfall to their advantage. 

The ministry gets temporarily passed over to Jerry Fallwell a popular Baptist televangelist at the time who is excited to exploit his new found power and riches. But it turns out that PTL is DEEEEEEPLY in debt and has been mis-allocating funds for years. 

Eventually the ministry collapses and Jim is sentenced to 45 years in jail for all of his financial crimes. (he only serves around 4 years) and now he is out of jail running a much smaller Doomsday ministry in Missouri where he is selling 5 gallon buckets of apocalypse soup!

So as promised we finally get a bit of modest Downfall! 

Enjoy

Sources:

PTL The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire by John Wigger

Bonus:

A Wild Compilation video of Jim Bakker Selling Soup:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K6uhZCB62k

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

The saga of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker continues this week while we get into the building of Heritage USA, using peoples payments from one project to fund the next, and the completion of the water park!

They are getting real footloose and fancy free with their finances and it's about to come back to bite them. Some staff is let go, and others start gathering stories and ammunition for the eventual collapse of PTL. 

PTL The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire by John Wigger

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

This week we're getting into Jim and Tammy Faye's rise to TV success! Their ministry is expanding, and they're misappropriating funds all over the place! It's not illegal if its for the lord!

We'll also get into the assault of Jessica Hahn and how it will help unravel PTL in the late 80s. 

Next week, we build the theme park that will take down the whole operation! 

PTL The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire by John Wigger

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

This week we get into the international television ministry of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker, famous pentecostal ministers from the 70s. They revolutionized religious television, starting from the humble beginnings of a kids puppet show and eventually becoming a very successful satelitte network on hundreds of stations. 

Jim and Tammy Faye met as bible college students and went on to build an empire together, one that would be brought down by adultery and fraud, as so many are! 

Today we will get into their beginnings, how they built their tv studio, and Jim's giant goals of building the best darn Christian waterpark there ever was. 

PTL The Rise and Fall of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker’s Evangelical Empire by John Wigger

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

Ok this episode we are going to be focusing on  the Volkswagen Emissions scandal. Apparently called Dieselgate or Emissions Gate.Volkswagen had big dreams to become the largest car manufacturer in the world. And it didn't mind cutting some really big corners to do it.

We are going to talk about The epa and the huge loopholes that used to be built into the system. Then we will talk about the development of the E189 engine and the Defeat software used to deceive regulators.

Eventually the fraud falls apart after a ragtag team of West Virginia University scientists tests the cars out on the open road. Volkswagen attempts to stall but the company is met with nearly 33 billion dollars worth of consequences. So Let's get into it!

Sources:

“Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal” by Jack Ewing(2017)

“1990 Clean Air Act Amendment Summary: Title II” EPA Website https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/1990-clean-air-act-amendment-summary-title-ii#:~:text=The%20Clean%20Air%20Act%20of,beginning%20in%20model%20year%201994.

“Meet the tinker whose invention Upended VW Emissions Scheme” by Ariel Wittenburg(Politico 2015) https://www.eenews.net/articles/meet-the-tinkerer-whose-invention-upended-vw-emissions-scheme/

Follow the podcast @yeettherichpod
Follow Emily @thefunnywalsh
Follow Danny @dmoss315

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

Volkswagen was having a rebirth in the United States in the mid to late 2000’s. They had become synonymous with the idea of clean diesel and technological advancement. 

Diesel Sales in the United States were at an all time high and with their higher fuel efficiency and the promises of clean planet friendly protection systems, they were the obvious choice for the environmentally minded american. 

But it turns out VW had a dark secret hidden in the computers of their cars. They could trick the testors, producing almost no emissions in the lab. But when these cars made it out on the actual road they began producing harmful gasses at off the chart rates. 

This engine was put in millions eventually leading to one of the largest environmental scandals in history of the automobile industry. 

This episode we will get into the history of VW. The company somehow goes from Nazi Prestige project, to free love and a symbol of the counterculture. Then we will get into the circumstances leading up to the not so miracle engine. 

Sources:

“Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal” by Jack Ewing(2017)

“1990 Clean Air Act Amendment Summary: Title II” EPA Website https://www.epa.gov/clean-air-act-overview/1990-clean-air-act-amendment-summary-title-ii#:~:text=The%20Clean%20Air%20Act%20of,beginning%20in%20model%20year%201994.

“How American Icon Henry Ford Fostered Anti-Semitism” By Becky Little (2023) History.com   https://www.history.com/news/henry-ford-antisemitism-worker-treatment

“How the Volkswagen Bus Became a Symbol of Counterculture” by David Kindy 2020 for Smithsonian Magizine https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/how-volkswagen-bus-became-symbol-counterculture-180974354/#:~:text=Its%20boxy%20appearance%E2%80%94so%20unlike,the%20nickname%20%E2%80%9Chippie%20bus.%E2%80%9D

Follow the podcast @yeettherichpod
Follow Emily @thefunnywalsh
Follow Danny @dmoss315

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!

Today we wrap up the story of King Leopold II! He sells the Congo the Belgian government, finally dies, and Belgium continues to completely desecrate the Congo for another 50 years. 

We get into Morel and Casements continuing activism and the small victories they gained, as well as how well the stories and history have, or more accurately have not, been preserved. 

This was a tough subject, but let us know if you have any suggestions for future topics! 

Sources: King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa by Adam Hochschild 

Send us a text! Let us know what topics you want us to cover!