Why do dictators and despots create outlandish myths about themselves? Why spread lies claiming that you’ve written 18,000 books or that you personally invented hamburgers? Why waste millions on a golden statue of yourself that rotates to face the…

The UK has a new prime minister. On his first day, Boris Johnson will handwrite four identical letters to the captains of Britain’s nuclear submarines. They are one of the most closely guarded secrets of the British government. And those Letters of…

How did 2 guys you’ve never heard of save the world from nuclear apocalypse? Can nuclear weapons be hacked? What’s the most consequential honeymoon in human history? Why was a British nuclear weapon designed to contain live chickens in the bomb…

You’ve probably heard of money laundering, but how does it actually work? How did billions of dollars of dirty gold from South America become clean cash in Florida and Ohio? How do crooks launder money using video games? Why are journalists getting…

Why are countries that are rich in natural resources so often poor and war-torn? You’ve probably heard of blood diamonds, but what about blood vanilla, blood microchips, or blood chocolate? How are rebels and terrorists funding themselves with…

Nick Yarris spent 22 years on death row. At one point, he even escaped. But then, right before he was slated to be executed, DNA evidence proved he was innocent. Is the death penalty justified? Can a just society execute people? Are you more likely to…

What’s something that you do every 2 weeks? For Michelle Lyons, over a span of 12 years, she watched someone get executed every two weeks in Texas. What are inmates like on their last day alive? Did she have misgivings watching people take their last…

Why did the CIA try to kill an African political leader with poisoned toothpaste? How did a sturdy couch save a leader from being killed during an elaborate plot involving a self-sinking boat and a collapsing ceiling? Was a recent attempt to blow up…

Why did the war in Afghanistan hinge on the ability of a teenager to help buy 100 million bullets for the US military? Where do you even go to buy 100 million bullets? What are international arms dealers actually like? Is the US facilitating war…

What’s the best way to smuggle a crocodile onto an airplane? What is the journey actually like for migrants getting smuggled from Afghanistan to Australia? Why is the European Union paying migrant smugglers in Niger to open bakeries? Will Trump’s…