Introducing: Last Resort

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10/18/22

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What if California seceded from the United States? If it did, what would happen? Would it usher in a new era of peace and prosperity? Or plunge the US into a new civil war?

This is The Last Resort, a new documentary podcast following the rise, fall, and rebirth of CAL EXIT: the campaign for Californian Independence.

It’s a story about a dream for a new progressive utopia on the West Coast. It’s about the fight for America’s future. And it’s also a tale of two friends who started on the political fringe and ended up in the middle of a still-unfolding global criminal conspiracy involving the FBI and Russian Intelligence.

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Previous Episode

The Real Catch Me If You Can part 8

October 11, 2022

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65m

On September 12, 2022, Frank Abagnale was honored with a Heroes in Ethics award at Xavier University. An ethics award for a conman!

Unlike the general public, who were spellbound by the myth surrounding Abagnale's life, Xavier University knew precisely who they were honoring that night. They can't claim ignorance because I wrote the University and told them they had the wrong guy. Frank Abagnale doesn't deserve an ethics award. He lied about his entire life story. Was Malala busy that week? She deserves an ethics award. But despite knowing the truth, Xavier University went along with their little ethics ceremony anyway.

Xavier University's mission is built on moral and ethical responsibility- that's what it says on its website. And out of all the people in the world making a difference, they chose to honor a guy who ripped off his girlfriend and is accused of feeling up college girls pretending to be a doctor-slash pilot recruiter. But, seriously, did they even read this guy's Wikipedia page?

Picture a room full of business students, professors, lawyers, accountants, and even current members of the FBI eagerly awaiting Frank Abagnale's Heroes in Ethics acceptance speech. Little does Frank Abagnale know that Jim Grinstead, host of the Scams and Cons podcast, was in the audience. Jim planned to confront Frank Abagnale during the Q&A portion of the ceremony.

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Next Episode

S806: The Real Vampires Revisited

October 25, 2022

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41m

John Browning investigates real blood-sucking vampires—people who need human blood to survive.

In today's episode, we will talk about real people who claim to be real vampires.

Self-harm

You know, we bantered about tapping into veins and arteries from the vantage point of vampires feasting on blood. But if you remove the word vampire from our conversation, it starts sounding like a much more familiar crisis...self-harm.

It's not uncommon for some of us with depression or anxiety to inflict pain on ourselves. The physical wounds hurt, but it's nowhere near as painful as the emotions inside our heads and hearts. So if you're listening to this, there are different places you can seek help. First, talk to a pro. You can use online counselors like BetterHelp, a real-life therapist, or even reach out to a friend. There are also crisis lines where you can text and talk to an actual human for free. Text HOME to 741741, Again text HOME to 741741. I'll have a list of numbers you can text for my international friends in the show notes.

https://www.crisistextline.org/