Swindled

We all know the classic serial killer stories and gory crimes that have made the names of terrible people, terribly famous. But what about the crimes that aren’t as gory, but just as frightening?  Under the moniker of “A Concerned Citizen”, the host takes listeners through short stories of white collar crimes that have played a role in shaping the lives of countless people all over the world in pretty disturbing ways. Each episode tells about a different white-collar criminal, con artist, and act of corporate evil, with archival audio recordings to save you some time on your fact-checking mid episode. And it seems like no one is safe from being a subject. Some of my favourite episodes are about infamous characters like the lady who fakes being a 911 survivor, FIFA, Martin Shkreli, the Hitman Frank Howard, and the story of  Abscam. 

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Most notably is the host’s voice and dry sarcasm. With a focus on financially motivated crimes ranging anywhere from ponzi schemes to environmental disasters, the host wastes no chance to crack a pun or poke fun at the obvious. This podcast gets straight to the point with no frills and helps shed some light on the insidious nature of white collar crimes, and the flaws in the system that help them proliferate.  But probably the scariest part of the whole podcast, is seeing that greed isn’t bound to certain industries. These stories cover a wide variety of topics, ranging from corporate Whistleblowers to Girls Gone Wild. Everything has a price, and the host of Swindled uncovers what those prices are, seemingly regardless of the repercussions. 

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The podcast itself is worth checking out but it’s also worth mentioning all the creative aspects going into it. Episodes contain archival audio, original music, and an Instagram post equally cheeky as it is curated. Each episode has a unique cartoon figure designed to represent the main antagonist in each story.

Swindled is the perfect podcast for anyone interested in having a laugh or two while listening to stories of some of the craziest white-collar crimes out there (there’s even one about Nestle).