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June 28, 2023 2 mins

This is Shattering The System, a podcast hosted by pioneering audio journalist Sonari Glinton. Drawing from his decades covering politics and the economy, Sonari exposes the systems making it possible for criminals of all kinds to get away with the unthinkable. Though it’s a podcast about crime, this is more than just another true crime podcast. Using expert interviews, evidence, and innovative sound, Sonari unveils the ugly truths baked into our society. This season, he tells the story of what happens in gay Hollywood when gay black men turn up dead. He’ll delve deep into the strange, twisted world of convicted criminal Ed Buck. It’s a case with implications reaching far beyond Hollywood. This is a story not to be missed. Join Sonari as he takes a hard look at what happens when the system isn’t just broken, but shattered.

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Episode Transcript

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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Not all crime stories are created equal. I'm Scenario Glinton.
I'm not a celebrity or a comedian or an influencer.
I'm a reporter. And every reporter has that one story
that their bosses were too afraid to take on. But
now with this podcast, I have the chance to tell
stories too important amiss. We begin with the shocking crimes

(00:24):
of Ed Buck.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
A prominent donor to the Democratic Party. A man by
the name of Ed Buck has been arrested after a
third man nearly died of an overdose in his West
Hollywood home.

Speaker 1 (00:38):
This is shattering the system.

Speaker 3 (00:43):
It was harrowing. I was speechless. The accounts of the
victims were just truly shocking. I had never seen anything
quite like this, and I don't think I ever will again.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
How real prosecutor is shocked. You know you have a
story For this series, I'm taking a much more personal
and direct approach, because you know what, the last thing
the world needs is another mild mannered reporter camera. Actually,
look Chris Darden on the wrong side yet again, if.

Speaker 4 (01:20):
You look at it outside of the criminal justice sphere
or the criminal justice space, then I can understand why
people would say that.

Speaker 1 (01:29):
Yes, but in this show, we are not stopping at
true crime. So if you're blonde and perceived as beautiful
with blue eyes, you get that around o'clock media coverage.
I spent my entire career telling stories on NPR, Planet Money,
This American Life, and let's be honest, there are way

(01:53):
too many true crime podcasts. This is something very different.
This season. We take a close look the story of
how a wealthy, gay, white political donor took advantage of
a broken system to end the life of one man
and then do it all over again with a second victim.

Speaker 5 (02:12):
I don't know how your heart doesn't break for the
families who lost people they cared about. Their grief, their
hurt and sadness live on and will haunt me forever.

Speaker 4 (02:24):
LA's a jungle. You gotta be careful. You know, this
city is very deceptive because it's beautiful, but there is
so much darkness in this city and it's always been there.

Speaker 1 (02:41):
It's more than true crime. It's Shattering the System the podcast.
Listen to Shattering the System on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
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