UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode on 03/09, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York City on charges of financial conspiracy.

For years, rapper Pras Michél has allegedly been doing the bidding of wanted Malaysian billionaire, Jho Low. Pras’s baffling, Icarian story involves one of the greatest financial scandals in history, an international hostage negotiation, and the possibility of a decadeslong prison sentence. 

Matthew Campbell co-wrote this story for Business Week. You can read it here: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-us-china-tensions-scandal-fugees-1mdb/  

UPDATE: Since we recorded this episode on 03/09, Guo Wengui was arrested in New York City on charges of financial conspiracy. For years, rapper Pras Michél has allegedly been doing the bidding of wanted Malaysian billionaire, Jho Low. Pras’s baffling, Icarian story involves one of the greatest financial scandals in history, an international hostage negotiation, and the possibility of a decadeslong prison sentence. Matthew Campbell co-wrote this story for Business Week. You can read it here: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-us-china-tensions-scandal-fugees-1mdb/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-us-china-tensions-scandal-fugees-1mdb/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1679016101369000&amp;usg=AOvVaw23qSuiomwK9em0Ig6QBGcU">https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2023-us-china-tensions-scandal-fugees-1mdb/  </a>

On Story of the Week, “journalist” Joel Stein chooses an article that fascinates him, convinces the writer to tell him about it, and then interrupts a good conversation by talking about himself. Sometimes the story will be the one everyone is talking about, like the New Yorker article on smoking hallucinogenic toads. Other times we’ll find a story you might have missed, like the one in the Verge about the rock groupie turned hacker who had huge corporations at her mercy. These are stories you’ll tell your friends about. Stories that stick with you long after you forget whatever headline you just doom-scrolled through.

iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries. 

On Story of the Week, “journalist” Joel Stein chooses an article that fascinates him, convinces the writer to tell him about it, and then interrupts a good conversation by talking about himself. Sometimes the story will be the one everyone is talking about, like the New Yorker article on smoking hallucinogenic toads. Other times we’ll find a story you might have missed, like the one in the Verge about the rock groupie turned hacker who had huge corporations at her mercy. These are stories you’ll tell your friends about. Stories that stick with you long after you forget whatever headline you just doom-scrolled through.
iHeartMedia is the exclusive podcast partner of Pushkin Industries.

Story of the Week with Joel Stein

Every week host Joel Stein picks a long magazine article that fascinates him – and then actually reads the whole thing, all by himself. Then he calls his fellow, but greatly superior journalist friend who wrote it, and gets them to tell him all about it. He does the work and you get the stories. More accurately, some great journalist does the work and Joel Stein puts his name, Joel Stein, on the podcast. 

Every week host Joel Stein picks a long magazine article that fascinates him – and then actually reads the whole thing, all by himself. Then he calls his fellow, but greatly superior journalist friend who wrote it, and gets them to tell him all about it. He does the work and you get the stories. More accurately, some great journalist does the work and Joel Stein puts his name, Joel Stein, on the podcast.

A ‘90s Rapper & A Wanted Malaysian Billionaire

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/916932fd-abf8-44ef-b192-afc700174ce6/transcript

Visionary music producer Robert Margouleff shares his stories of pushing the boundaries of musical innovation, art, and technology in the new immersive audiobook, Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music. In legendary studios like Electric Lady and the Record Plant, Margouleff became a pioneering producer and engineer for artists like Billy Preston, Jeff Beck, DEVO, The Isley Brothers, and David Sanborn. A true sonic innovator, he was an early adopter of immersive audio and surround sound, developing new mixing techniques for home theaters that brought some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters to life. Travel deep into the world of a music maker who created some of the most significant and influential music of our time.

Here's a preview. Find the full audiobook at Pushkin.fm, Spotify, Audible, Apple Books or wherever you get audiobooks.

Visionary music producer Robert Margouleff shares his stories of pushing the boundaries of musical innovation, art, and technology in the new immersive audiobook,&nbsp;Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music.&nbsp;In legendary studios like Electric Lady and the Record Plant, Margouleff became a pioneering producer and engineer for artists like Billy Preston, Jeff Beck, DEVO, The Isley Brothers, and David Sanborn. A true sonic innovator, he was an early adopter of immersive audio and surround sound, developing new mixing techniques for home theaters that brought some of Hollywood&rsquo;s biggest blockbusters to life.&nbsp;Travel&nbsp;deep into the world of a music maker who created some of the most significant and influential music of our time.
Here's a preview. Find the full audiobook at <a href="https://www.pushkin.fm/audiobooks">Pushkin.fm</a>, <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/7gfep1zMIWiMWxRcTRY7na?si=545af272cf064c27">Spotify</a>, <a href="https://www.audible.com/pd/Shaping-Sounds-Audiobook/B0G3J8RBNB?eac_link=H6g64tkZM0Kj&amp;ref=web_search_eac_asin_1&amp;eac_selected_type=asin&amp;eac_selected=B0G3J8RBNB&amp;qid=QWF1iMFw2x&amp;eac_id=138-0895112-0129720_QWF1iMFw2x&amp;sr=1-1">Audible</a>, <a href="https://books.apple.com/us/audiobook/shaping-sounds-stevie-wonder-devo-the-synth/id1854288708">Apple Books</a> or wherever you get audiobooks.

Introducing Shaping Sounds: Stevie Wonder, DEVO, the Synth Revolution and My Life Behind the Music

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/1a5bfc79-4091-4924-b443-b44e014abb19/transcript

Drilled is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists, led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.

In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula’s dream of turning Brazil into "the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels." It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.

Here's episode 1 of Drilled: Carbon Cowboys. Find Drilled wherever you get podcasts.

<a href="https://apple.co/4eEJ9zA">Drilled</a> is a true-crime climate change podcast exposing how corporate corruption and political operatives built decades of climate denial and delay. Hosted and reported by award-winning investigative climate journalists, led by Amy Westervelt, each season unravels new evidence of deception, disinformation, and the power structures keeping real climate solutions out of reach.
In September 2025, a group of Brazilian ministers trekked all the way to chilly North Dakota to see a presentation on a new type of clean energy project, one that promised to help them deliver Brazilian President Lula&rsquo;s dream of turning Brazil into "the Saudi Arabia of sustainable aviation fuels." It was the latest in a string of projects from Midwest Republican kingmaker and corn ethanol magnate Bruce Rastetter, whose investments in Brazil might just transform him into a global carbon czar, even as his Summit pipeline carbon project faces fierce opposition from Iowa to North Dakota. The problem? It all requires loads of land and none of it does a thing about climate change.
Here's episode 1 of <a href="https://apple.co/4eEJ9zA">Drilled: Carbon Cowboys</a>. Find Drilled wherever you get podcasts.

Introducing Drilled: Carbon Cowboys

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/08531b3e-2453-4c2c-a1d9-b43a01452389/transcript

With the 96th Academy Awards this Sunday, we wanted to revisit this episode from last year. The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award history takes the cake. In 1974, a scrawny white man named Robert Opel ran across the stage butt naked, right as the Best Picture category was being announced. New Yorker magazine writer and Oscars aficionado Michael Schulman recounts the queer, wonderful, and historic life of the 1974 Oscars streaker. 

You can read the full story here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/06/what-became-of-the-oscar-streaker

You can find Michael Schulman’s new book Oscar Wars here.

With the 96th Academy Awards this Sunday, we wanted to revisit this episode from last year. The Oscars seems to be cursed with a series of chaotic live television gaffes. But one moment in Academy Award history takes the cake. In 1974, a scrawny white man named Robert Opel ran across the stage butt naked, right as the Best Picture category was being announced. New Yorker magazine writer and Oscars aficionado Michael Schulman recounts the queer, wonderful, and historic life of the 1974 Oscars streaker. 
You can read the full story here: <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/06/what-became-of-the-oscar-streaker">https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/02/06/what-became-of-the-oscar-streaker</a> 
You can find Michael Schulman’s new book Oscar Wars <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Oscar-Wars-History-Hollywood-Sweat/dp/0062859013/ref=asc_df_0062859013/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=598229505507&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=4643117176586524590&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9030967&amp;hvtargid=pla-1732288545983&amp;psc=1" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.amazon.com/Oscar-Wars-History-Hollywood-Sweat/dp/0062859013/ref%3Dasc_df_0062859013/?tag%3Dhyprod-20%26linkCode%3Ddf0%26hvadid%3D598229505507%26hvpos%3D%26hvnetw%3Dg%26hvrand%3D4643117176586524590%26hvpone%3D%26hvptwo%3D%26hvqmt%3D%26hvdev%3Dc%26hvdvcmdl%3D%26hvlocint%3D%26hvlocphy%3D9030967%26hvtargid%3Dpla-1732288545983%26psc%3D1&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1678503486776000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0wzJL1rjg1w4s_C0Lp9kxZ">here.</a>

Revisiting: The Surprising, Queer History of the 1974 Oscars Streaker

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/b8d6d172-9921-47de-94c1-b12d014d4288/transcript

A ‘90s Rapper & A Wanted Malaysian Billionaire

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